CAPTAIN  ORTON  E  JAC 

AND 

MAJOR  FRANK  E.  £ 


'9    'Sa^i*  »»'0>' 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF. CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 

MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK 

OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Itciirlitlrd    \ill   Pv 

LANDING    AT    VKKA    CIUZ 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF 

AMERICAN  SHIPS 


BY 


CAPTAIN  ORTON  P.  JACKSON,  U.S.N. 


MAJOR  FRANK  E.  EVANS,  U.S.M.C. 


WITH  TWELVE  COLORED  PLATES  AND  OVER  FOUR  HUNDRED 
ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


NEW  YORK 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES   COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
Frederick  A.  Stokes  Company 

All  rights  reserved 


.1^^ '  : 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  The  Happy  Ship 1 

II  Our  Underse.\  Fighters 11 

III  Birth  of  Superdreadnought 21< 

IV  All  Around  a  Battleship 35 

V  The  Queen  of  the  Sea         54 

VI  The  Destroyer 65 

VII  The  Policeman  of  the  Seven  Seas    .....  80 

VIII  The  Liner  is  a  Lady 86 

IX  Square-Riggers  and  Fore-and-Afters 95 

X  MOTORBOATS    FOR    FuN    OR    WaR Ill 

XI  American  Yachting 121 

XII  The  Freight  Carriers  of  the  American  jVIarine      .  135 

XIII  Our  Nautical  Training  Ships 148 

XIV  The  Making  of  a  JVIan-o'-War's-Man 159 

XV  When  the  Ships  Go  South 172 

X\T  The  Fleet  Has  Its  Train         182 

XVII  How  the  Ships  Talk 193 

XVIII  When  Fleet  Went  Round  World 203 

XIX  Sentinels  of  the  Sea  - _    .  214 

XX  Following  our  Ships  Through  the  Panama  Canal  .  229 

XXI  The  Fleet  at  Battle  Practice 241 

XXII  Big  Guns  and  Little  Ones 253 

XXIII  Fighting  Ships  that  Fly 266 


M309481 


vi  CONTEXTS 


CHAPTEh 


PAGE 


XXIV  The  Solmers  of  the  Sea  281 

XXV  Heroes  of  the  Coast  Guard 293 

XX\T  The  United  States  Naval  Academy 306 

XXVII  Athletics  in  the  Fleet 319 

XXVIII  Sailormen  and  their  Pets 330 

XXIX  Ceremonies  and  Uniforms 341 

XXX  Where  the  Ships  Nest 358 

XXXI  Seven  Great  Sea  Fights 368 

XXXII  Tragedies  op  the  Sea .      .  381 


COLORED  PLATES 

Marines  Landing  at  Vera  Cruz Frontispiece 

FACING 

Ships  that  Fight  Above,  Upon,  and  Beneath  the  Waves      .      .                   .      .  18 

A  Battle  Fleet  in  Action .      .  54 

Destroyers  in  a  Seaway .      .  76 

The  "Aquitania"  (Cunard  Line) .      .  86 

House  Flags  and  Funnels  of  the  Principal  Steamship  Lines 9'-2 

A  Submarine  Commander  Hailing  a  Merchantman \M 

Signaling  a  Message  to  the  Fleet .  194 

International  Code  Flags  and  Pennants 20'-2 

Ensigns  and  National  Merchant  Flags 20'-2 

"Soldiers  of  the  Sea" 284 

The  "Constitution"  and  the  "Guerriere" .  370 


IN  THE  DAYS  OF  WOODEN  SHIPS  AND  IKON  MEN 

THE    MARVEL    BOOK    OF 
AMERICAN   SHIPS 


THE    HAPPY    SHIP 

OX  the  bridge  of  the  historic  flagship  of  Admiral  David  Farragut, 
the  frigate  Hartford,  was  carved  in  huge  letters  the  motto 
"A  Happy  Ship  is  an  Efficient  One."  That  is  the  aim  of  the 
American  Na\'y  to-day,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  the  American 
hhiejacket  is  the  best  fed,  the  best  uniformed,  and  the  most  contented 
of  all  the  sailormen  afloat  on  the  Seven  Seas.     To  cruise  the  salt  seas, 

1 


THE  :\rARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


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SCRUB  AND  WASH  CLOTHES 


drop  anchor  now 
and  then  in  a  for- 
eign port,  and 
sandwich  in  be- 
tween the  rivalry 
of  drills  ashore  and 
afloat  the  contests 
of  water  and  field 
sports  is  in  itself 
attractive  enough 
to  lure  the  Amer- 
ican boy  to  the  na- 
val service  of  his 
country.  To  know 
a  year  ahead  where  each  ship  will  be,  to  make  the  cruises  to  foreign 
lands  more  frequent,  and  to  enlarge  the  opportunities  of  the  enlisted 
men  of  our  Navy  in  both  study  and  recreation  is  the  aim  of  the  Navy 
Department  in  peace  times. 

The  man-o'-war's-man  in  our  'Navj  begins  his  day  with  the  bugles 
sounding  reveille  at  5 :30  in  the  morning,  backed  up  by  the  shrill  pipes 
of  the  bosun's  mates  and  their  hoarse  shouts  of:  "Up  all  hammocks! 
Lash  and  carry!"  Hammocks  are  lashed  and  stowed  away  in  the 
hammock  nettings  and  then  coffee  and  ship's  bread  are  served.  In 
the  old  days  hard- 
tack was  served, 
but  to-day  the 
American  blue- 
jacket has  his 
bread  baked  fre.-li 
daily. 

Then  comes 
the  call  of  "Scrnl) 
and  wash  clothes!" 
Kidnap  a  blue- 
jacket and  carry 
him  in  an  aero- 
plane to  the  top  of 
Pike 's  Peak,  and 
in  ten  minutes  his 
pipe  will  be  going 
and   from  some  the  forecastle  wash  line 


THE  HAPPY  SHIP 


queer  hiding-place  he  will 
produce  a  bucket,  soap,  brush 
and  water,  and  a  line  of  wash 
clothes  will  flutter  in  the 
breeze. 

Until  the  bugles  blow 
their  welcome  call  of  ' '  Soupy 
^soupy — soupy — without  a 
single  bean!"  at  7:30  the  ship 
is  running  in  water  ankle- 
deep  from  the  hoses.  Wher- 
ever you  turn,  bluejackets  and 
marines  are  cleaning  decks 
and  paint-work,  scrubbing 
gratings  and  boat-gear,  pol- 
ishing bright-work,  as  the 
sailors  call  the  brass  fittings, 
and  swapping  yarns. 

After  breakfast  the 
"smoking  lamp"  is  lighted 
and  with  it  goes  permission  to 
smoke.  Until  the  morning 
drill  period  sounds  at  9 :30  the 

men  are  getting  into  the  uniform  prescribed  for  the  day,  attending 
the  call  to  sick  bay  if  they  are  in  need  of  medical  attendance,  and 
stowing  away  their  sea-bags  and  ditty-boxes.     If  you  are  allowed  a 

peep  into  the  small,  square 
ditty-boxes  you  will  see 
sewing  material,  writing 
paper,  souvenirs  of 
cruises  and  the  pictures 
of  many  girls;  for  the 
sailor  of  to-day,  like  those 
who  have  gone  before,  has 
liis  "sweetheart  in  every 
port."  Take  a  sea-bag 
off  its  rail  and  inside  you 
will  find  every  article  of 
a  bluejacket's  wardrobe. 
Each  piece  is  neatly  rolled 
SIDE  CLEANERS  AT  WORK  ^ud  ' '  stoppcd ' '  at  the  euds 


P/wlo  bij  Paul  Th 


A  LOVE  LETTER  AND  A  DITTY-BOX 


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THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


THE    SHIP  S    TAILOR 

After  the  iiis])ection  the 
and  go  through  the  Swed- 
ish phj'sical  drill,  ending 
with  double  time  about  the 
decks  while  the  ship's 
band  plays  a  lively  air. 
At  the  close  of  the  phys- 
ical drill  comes  the  first 
regi;lar  drill  for  the  day. 
Some  of  these  drills  grow 
monotonous  but  most  of 
them  are  picturesque  and 
blood-stirring. 

In  the  big  turrets  and 
at  the  rapid-fire  guns  the 
crews  go  through  the  drill 


men  extend 


of  the  roll — tied  with 
white  cord  to  keep  it  from 
unrolling — and  the  sail- 
or's name  is  stenciled  in 
white  letters  on  his  blue 
uniforms,  and  in  black  on 
his  white  suits  and  under- 
wear. 

When  the  call  sounds 
to  "quarters"  the  crew 
falls  in,  each  man  in  his 
division,  in  double  ranks 
that  face  each  other.  The 
divisional  officers  walk  up 
and  down  between  the 
ranks,  and  woe  to  the  man 
who  is  not  cleanly  shaven, 
whose  uniform  lacks  a 
button,  or  whose  shoes 
have  not  been  shined ! 
These  inspections  every 
day  are  the  secret  of  the 
natty,  w^ell-unif  ormed  sail- 
ors and  marines  you  see 
on  shore  in  uniform, 
their  intervals  between  files 


READY  I'OU  I'EAST,  FIGHT  OR  FROLIC 


THE  HAPPY  SHIP 


DRILLING  WHILE  STEAMING   IS  KNOTS 


that  fits  them  for  rapid  and  accurate  handHiig  of  tlieir  guns  in  battle. 
On  tlie  forecastle  deck  another  division  is  having  its  infantry  drill, 
and  this  often  goes  on  while  the  ship  is  rolling  and  pitching  to  the 
seas. 

Tlien  there  are  drills,  carried  out  to  the  smallest  detail,  for  fire, 
collision  at  sea  or  port,  general  quarters  for  going  into  action,  aban- 
don ship,  and  the  night  torpedo  defense  drills. 

When  a  man  goes  on  board  ship  he  is  given  a  number  which  shows 
his  division,  his  gun,  his  mess,  hammock,  sea-bag,  rifle,  cleaning  station 
and  where  he  is  to  go  in  each  of  these  general  drills.  Sometimes  the 
call  to  "clear  ship  for  action"  or  collision  drill  comes  at  night  with 
the  gongs  ringing  and  bugles  blowing  to  awake  the  men  from  sound 
sleep. 

When  the  drill  is  for  collision,  fire,  or  abandon  ship,  the  marines 
race  to  the  boats  with  bayonets  fixed,  with  orders  to  allow  no  man  in 
the  boats  until  the  captain  himself  passes  the  word.  Many  watertight 
doors  are  closed  by  electricity,  and  if  the  crew  gets  orders  to  abandon 
ship  each  man  can  be  over  the  side  and  at  his  proper  seat  in  one  of 
the  boats  in  a  very  few  minutes. 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


THE  SAILORS    GAME  OF  ACEY-DUCEY 


When  the  drill 
is  "general  quar- 
ters" the  crews 
rush  to  their  guns, 
and  up  from  below 
comes  the  ammuni- 
tion by  electric 
hoists.  Down  in 
the  battle  dressing- 
station  the  surgeon 
and  the  hospital  at- 
tendants are  ready, 
the  shii^'s  band  is 
split  up  at  various 
stations,  and  each  of  the  thousand  officers  and  men  knows  exactly 
where  his  station  is  and  what  to  do.  Meantime  the  captain,  watch  in 
hand,  receives  reports  from  all  parts  of  the  ship;  and  it  goes  hard 
with  officer  or  man  who  is  not  reported  ready  after  a  few  minutes  have 
passed! 

Then  again  it  may  be  signal  drill.  The  men  in  our  Navy  talk  in 
many  ways  unknown  to  the  landsman.  Varicolored  flags  spell  mes- 
sages to  them  by  day,  and  at  night  the  red  and  white  lights  of  the 
Ardois  system  wink  news  from  ship  to  ship.  Then  there  are  the  wig- 
wag flags,  the  semaphore  arms  at  the  wings  of  the  bridge,  and  the 
blinker  system  at  the  signal  yard-arms. 

In  port  every  opportunity  is  taken  to  land  the  crew  for  infantry 
and  artillery  drill,  or  for  a  long  practice  march  into  the  country,  and 
the  small  boats  of 
the  fleet  go  through 
their  drills  under 
sail  and  under 
oars. 

The  hour  of 
noon,  when  "the 
sun  crosses  the 
yard-arm,"  is  a 
welcome  event.  A 
red  pennant  slides 
up  to  the  foretruck 
and  the  crew  goes 
to  dinner.  ^  favorite  recreation 


^[l^^ 

THE  HAPPY  HOUR  ON  THE  "NORTH  DAKOTA" 


A  READING  ROOM  ON  THE  BERTH  DECK 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN_SHIPS  — 


After  dinner  comes  a  recreation  period  for  games,  letter  writing- 
and  smoking,  and  the  band  plays  for  dancing,  etc. 

The  afternoon  drill  may  be  in  seamanship,  gamnery,  signaling,  or 
ship's  work,  and  at  eight  bells — 4  o'clock — comes  the  welcome  call, 
"Knock  off  all  work!"  Come  about  the  ship  now  and  on  the  boatdeck 
you  will  find  husky  bluejackets  swinging  together  at  pulley  weights 
until  the  50-pound  weights  fairly  sing.  They  are  training  for  a  race 
cutter  crew.  Duck  do^\^l  the  nearest  ladder  and  you  see  a  big  sailor- 
man  bent  over  a  tiny  sewing-machine.  Beside  him  is  another  man 
on  all  fours  bent  seriously  over  a  strip  of  blue  cloth  and  laboriously 
cutting  out  the  pattern  for  a  pair  of  trousers  for  his  mate  at  the 
machine.     Other  gioups  are  reading  or  writing,  working  over  their 

c  0  rrespondence- 
school  courses  in 
electricity  or  me- 
chanical engineer- 
ing, and  t  w  o 
healthy  -  skinned 
boys  are  boxing. 
Take  a  turn  across 
the  forecastle  and 
you  come  across  a 
number  of  power- 
ful, beautifully 
muscled  men  fast 
asleep  on  black 
strips  of  canvas 
that  are  known  as  "caulking  mats."  When  a  sailorman  wants  to  sleep 
he  is  apt  to  say,  "Time  to  caulk  off!"  They  are  the  men  from  the 
engine-room  below,  the  giants  of  the  ship 's  company,  and  he  is  a  rash 
man  who  disturbs  their  slumbers. 

After  the  mess-call  for  supper  comes  what  the  crew  calls  "The 
Happy  Hour."  There  are  moving-picture  shows,  concerts,  dancing  to 
the  music  of  the  band,  and  a  great  deal  of  ship-visiting.  The  call  to 
"Sling  hammocks!"  announces  the  end  of  "The  Happy  Hour,"  and 
taps  at  9  o'clock  ends  the  day  aboard  a  battleship. 

Each  Wednesday  afternoon  is  given  to  sewing  and  the  washing  of 
outfits.  The  crew  knows  Wednesday  afternoon  by  the  curious  title  of 
"Rope  Yarn  Sunday." 

The  formal  inspection  of  the  entire  ship  and  every  man  in  it  is 
held  on  Saturday,  when  the  Old  ]\Ian,  as  the  Captain  is  affectionately 


fholf)  by  H.  Tot.lcrlun.l 


ROPE  YARN  SUNDAY 


THE  HAPPY  SHIP 


TAPS  ON  THE  "NORTH  DAKOTA" 

known,  moves  from  deck  to  deck.  He  wears  white  gloves  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  it  is  not  well  for  the  peace  of  the  ship  if  those  white  gloves 
are  soiled  by  any  gear  or  fitting  aboard  his  ship. 

Naturally,  with  this  busy  day  of  drills  and  recreations,  and  the 
tang  of  salt  air,  the  appetite  of  a  battleship's  crew  is  a  hearty  one. 
The  paymaster  of  the  ship  has  charge  of  this  department,  ^vith  a  large 
force  of  stewards,  cooks,  and  messmen  under  him.  For  the  officers  the 
mess  attendants  are  Filipino  boys.  Nowadays  on  ships  like  the  dread- 
nought Nevada  the  cook  of  the  ship,  always  an  important  and  well-paid 
post,  is  a  trained  electrician.  Every  bit  of  work  in  the  Nevada's 
galley  is  done  by  electricity.  The  cook  turns  a  switch  and  the  appetiz- 
ing meats,  the  potatoes  that  are  pealed  by  electricity,  the  soups  and 
the  vegetables  along  the  line  of  electric  ovens  begin  to  steam  and 
sizzle.  Electric  hoists  carry  the  pans  and  pots  with  their  steaming 
foods  to  the  decks  below,  and  the  cleaning  and  scouring  of  the  iron- 
ware dishes  is  done  by  an  electric  dishwasher. 

Uncle  Sam  feeds  his  men  from  the  pick  of  the  market  because  his 
paymasters,  buying  daily  for  so  many  men,  get  the  best  at  wholesale 
prices.  The  mess  tables,  scrubbed  until  they  are  white,  are  slung  in 
racks  above  the  deck,  and  the  meals  are  served,  and  all  signs  of  them 


10  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

removed,  in  shipshape  manner.  Because  evei'y  bit  of  space  aboard 
ship  is  precious  each  man  has  his  mess-table,  hammock,  sea-bag,  and 
his  g-un  all  in  the  same  casemate. 

To  help  out  the  sweet  tooth  of  the  crew,  which  is  a  big  one,  the 
paymaster  also  carries  a  large  stock  of  candy  and  other  tidbits,  which 
are  sold  at  low  prices.  And  twice  a  week,  whether  in  port  or  at  sea,  he 
serves  chicken  and  ice-cream  to  his  big  family. 

The  days  of  hardtack  and  of  the  old  "shellback"  sailorman  are 
gone.  The  modern  sailorman  can  no  longer  "pass  the  weather 
earring,"  but  he  is  handier,  better  cared  for,  and  a  more  useful  man 
to  his  country  than  the  old  tar. 


.  .,  J 

1 

THE  LATEST  TYPE 


II 


OUR  UNDERSEA  FIGHTERS 


OF  all  the  craft  that  make  up  the  Fleet,  from  the  grim  dread- 
nought and  its  powerful  fourteen-inch  monsters  to  the  fussy 
steam-launch  and  its  one-pounder  gun  in  the  bow,  there  is  none 
that  should  have  the  same  interest  for  the  American  boy  as  the  sub- 
marine. Of  all  the  units  of  the  Fleet  it  is  the  one  distinctively  American 
product  of  inventive  genius.  It  was  an  American,  Robert  Fulton,  then 
living  in  France,  in  1800,  who  designed  the  first  submarine.  It  was 
another  American  citizen,  John  P.  Holland,  who  built  the  first  sub- 
marine that  met  its  tests  successfully,  and  which  carried  within  its 
steel  skin  practically  all  of  the  principles  of  the  modern  submarine. 

As  far  back  as  the  sixteenth  century  men  dreamed  of  a  boat  that 
could  travel  beneath  the  seas,  just  as  men  dreamed  of  a  craft  that 
could  sail  through  the  skies  with  the  freedom  of  a  great  bird.  Not 
until  the  two  Americans,  Fulton  and  Holland,  made  their  practical 
contributions  to  this  end  did  the  submarine  of  to-day  emerge  from  the 
realms  of  visions  to  its  grim  power.  Jules  Verne,  in  his  remarkable 
romance.  Twenty  Thousand  Leagues  Under  the  Sea,  only  sketched  the 
wonderful  possibilities  of  the  craft  that  he  dreamed  of. 

Of  all  ships,  the  submarine  is  the  only  one  that  can  maneuver 
beneath  the  waves  as  well  as  on  the  surface,  and  the  dreadnought  of 
27,000  tons  is  an  easy  victim  to  the  submarine  of  one-fiftieth  her 
tonnage  when  the  submarine  takes  her  unawares. 

11 


OUR  UNDERSEA  FIGHTERS 


13 


It  remained  for  the  European  War,  more  than  a  century  after 
Fulton's  design,  to  vindicate  the  prophecies  that  the  submarine  would 
play  a  great  part  in  the  struggle  for  the  control  of  the  seas.  The  war 
stripped  the  submarine  of  much  of  its  mystery,  for  every  American 
boy  now  knows  something  of  the  part  it  plays  in  naval  warfare,  of  how 
it  fights  and  how,  in  turn,  it  is  hunted  to  be  either  captured  or  sunk. 
It  must  be  a  matter  of  national  pride  that  Americans  gave  to  that 
war  one  of  its  mightiest  engines.  American-built  submarines,  too, 
showed  to  the  world  that  the  tiny  undersea  craft,  assembled  in  tliis 
country,  were  heard  from  in  the  fighting  at  the  Dardanelles,  having 
traveled  five  thousand  sea  leagues  away. 


SECTIONAL  VIEW  OF  A  SUBMARINE 


Ever  since  the  United  States  Government  accepted  the  first  suc- 
cessful submarine,  the  Holland,  in  1898,  all  navies  of  the  world  have 
built,  and  are  building,  fleets  of  submarines.  They  have  increased  in 
size,  power,  and  seagoing  abilities  until  Germany  produced  the  super- 
submarine,  the  Deutschland,  Avith  its  displacement  of  2,300  tons  sub- 
merged, in  the  summer  of  1916.  The  Deutschland  was  the  first  demon- 
stration of  the  part  that  the  big  undersea  craft  are  destined  to  play  in 
the  development  of  commerce  as  well  as  its  destruction.  Unai-med, 
she  ran  the  formidable  British  blockade  from  Bremen  to  Baltimore 
and  back,  her  hull  loaded  with  priceless  contraband,  and  returned, 
making  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  on  the  second  triji. 


14 


THE  :\IARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


FULL  SURFACE   SPEED 


The  ordinary 
type  of  submarine 
used  by  the  United 
States  Navy  has 
about  500  tons  of 
submerged  dis- 
placement, m  u  c  h 
smaller  than  the 
seagoing  subma- 
rines used  by  the  European  nations  in  their  raids  on  commerce  and  in 
their  blockades.  It  was  left  to  them  to  prove  that  the  submarine  was 
even  a  more  formidable  weapon,  in  some  respects,  than  those  who  knew 
it  best  under  peace  conditions  had  claimed.  There  had  been  practically 
no  chance  to  test  out  its  efficiency  except  under  peace  conditions.  Naval 
officers  not  only  had  had  no  practical  opportunity  to  prove  out  their 
theories  of  attack,  but  there  had  been  no  practical  chance  to  build  up  a 
defense  against  the  untried  weapon. 

Like  the  torpedo,  without  the  use  of  which  the  undersea  boat 
would  have  remained  little  better  than  a  toy,  the  submarine  is  so 
shaped.  In  reality  it  is  a  submerging  or  diving  torpedo-boat,  driven 
on  the  surface  by  oil  engines,  below  the  sea  by  electric  power,  and 
discharges  torpedoes  at  its  enemy. 

The  torpedo  tubes  of  a  submarine  vary  in  number  according  to 
the  size  of  the  boat.  Some  types  carry  their  tubes  aft,  some  on  the 
broadside,  hut  the  majority  carry  them  forward.  The  torpedoes  used 
are  the  same  as 
those  fired 
from  destroy- 
ers and  from 
b  a  t  tie  ships. 
The  torpedo  it- 
self is  aston- 
ishingly accu- 
rate because  of 
the  gyroscopic 
mechanism 
which,  acting 
on  a  vertical 
rudder,  holds  it 
true  to  its 
course.    The  surface  conditions 


OITR  UNDERSEA  FIGHTERS 


15 


?V*-r-^ 


'  '^'!J-"T'<'R,^jj|u«p 


IN  DIVING  TIIIAJ, 


difficulty  in  aiming  the 
torpedo  in  submarine 
work  is  great  and  this 
alone  has  saved  many 
ships  from  destruction. 

Because  the  subma- 
rine does  the  greater  part 
of  its  deadly  work  while 
partially  or  totally  sub- 
merged, and  because  its 
only  protection  against  an 
enemy  ship  lies  in  diving, 
it  is  built  to  meet  the  great 
pressure  on  its  hull.  Un- 
like other  craft  it  is  there- 
fore usually  built  in  circu- 
lar sections,  because  this 
form  gives  it  the  strength  needed. 

When  the  submarine  runs  on  the  surface  it  is  driven  by  oil  engines 
with  a  speed  which  ranges  around  15  knots.  When  the  "sub,"  as  its 
crew  calls  it,  dives  and  runs  submerged,  it  is  propelled  by  electric 
motors  which  are  fed  by  storage  batteries.  At  target  practice  they 
run  submerged  at  about  8  knots,  and  one  improvement  for  which  all 
navies  are  striving  is  to  increase  this  speed  below  water. 

The  new  submarines  that  are  now  building  for  our  Navy  will 
average  about  800  tons  displacement  when  submerged,  be  about  250 
feet  long  and  will  have  a  speed  on  the  surface  of  about  19  knots,  and 
a  maximum  speed  below  of  nearly  14  knots.  The  "subs"  of  this  type 
will  cost  $1,200,000  without  figuring  on  the  armor  and  the  armament. 
To  build  them  longer  would  increase  the  danger  in  diving,  but  they 

will  be  as  sea- 
worthy, speedy, 
powerful,  and  com- 
fortable as  any 
submarine  afloat. 

At  one  stage  of 
the  submarine's 
development  car- 
bonic acid  gas  was 
a  danger  to  which 
RUNNING  AWASH  the   crcw  was   ex- 


OUR  UNDERSEA  FIGHTERS 


17 


posed  and  it  was  customary  to  carry  white  mice  as  pets  on  the  "subs," 
for  they  quickly  collapsed  at  the  tirst  trace  of  it.  Now  mechanical  de- 
vices show  the  formation  of  any  gas,  such  as  hydrogen,  which  is  odor- 
less. As  the  current  developed  while  running  submerged  is  quickly 
used  up  at  high  speed,  the  undersea  fighter  usually  runs  at  slow  speed, 
using  the  high  speed  only  for  short  spurts.  The  current  can  only  be 
replaced  by  coming  to  the  surface,  operating  the  oil  engines,  and  re- 
charging the  batteries;  so  that  the  maximum  speed  can  only  be  made 
while  on  the  surface. 

Like  the  torpedoes  that  have  made  the  submarine  the  most  dreaded 
of  all  sea  fighters,  the  modern  submarine  is  divided  into  watertight 


KL\N.M-\(i  AT  HALF  SPKED 


compartments.  These  are  the  torpedo,  crew,  battery,  diving,  and 
engine  compartments ;  spare  torpedoes  are  carried  in  the  crew  quarters. 

Life  on  a  submarine  is  no  bed  of  roses,  but  the  Navy  never  lacks 
for  volunteers  for  the  flotilla.  It  carries  extra  pay  to  make  up  in 
part  for  its  discomforts,  but  more  than  all  the  lure  of  danger  attracts 
the  American  bluejacket. 

The  living  quarters,  built  for  crews  ranging  from  ten  to  thirty 
men,  are  damp,  cramped,  and  the  air  is  usually  foul  with  oily  vapors 
and  stale  air.  At  best  the  amount  of  fresh  air  in  a  submarine  is  one- 
third  that  which  a  man  enjoys  on  a  surface-operating  ship.  In  rough 
weather,  whether  running  above  or  below  water,  the  percentage  of 
seasickness  is  high  even  with  men  who  never  have  felt  its  pangs  on 
board  a  battleship  in  the  worst  of  storms.  On  the  surface,  in  nasty 
weather,  everything  is  closed  but  the  conning  tower  hatch  and  then 


18  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

conditions  within  the  "sub"  are  ahnost  as  bad  as  when  running 
submerged. 

In  the  regular  channels  it  is  hard  to  sink  to  a  depth  that  will  bring 
any  relief,  but  out  in  the  open  sea,  when  a  gale  rages,  she  can  sink  to  a 
depth  of  one  hundred  feet.  Even  then  there  is  an  up  and  down  motion, 
which  the  crew  calls  "'pumping,"  that  cannot  be  escaped. 

It  is  only  on  cruises  of  a  fortnight  or  so,  how^ever,  that  a  sub- 
marine crew  gets  no  relief  from  these  conditions.  Between  runs,  and 
while  in  port  or  at  the  submarine  base,  the  crews  live  in  airy  barracks 
or  sling  their  hammocks  in  tenders  that  are  detailed  with  each  flotilla 
as  a  mother  ship. 

Little  shows  above  the  deck  of  the  submarine  on  the  surface  but 
the  conning  tower,  which  stands  about  six  feet  above  deck.  The  surface 
navigation  is  done  exactly  as  with  other  vessels,  the  captain  and 
helmsman  using  the  conning  tower  for  their  station.  Below  the  water 
the  periscope  takes  the  place  of  the  conning  tower.  A  rapid-fire  gun, 
running  in  caliber  up  to  one  that  fires  a  fourteen-pound  shell,  and 
the  radio  for  sigiialing  purposes,  are  housed  in  the  superstructure  or 
recessed  in  the  hull  when  the  submarine  makes  its  dive.  The  gam  is 
used  both  for  halting  merchantmen  that  try  to  escape  and  in  blockade 
duties.  A  submarine  bell  for  use  while  submerged  has  been  added  to 
the  modern  submarine's  signal  equipment;  and  another  great  improve- 
ment i!s  the  use  of  electric  stoves  for  cooking,  the  current  being  taken 
from  the  storage  batteries. 

When  the  submarine  finds  it  necessary  to  submerge  preparatorj^ 
to  an  attack,  to  escape  an  enemy  ship,  or  for  practice,  all  openings  in 
the  hull  are  closed  by  watertight  hatches.  The  Holland  type  has 
diving  rudders,  and  the  Lake  boat — our  two  leading  types — flat  pro- 
jecting fins  forward  and  aft,  called  hydroplanes,  and  both  sink  nearly 
on  an  even  keel.  Water  is  then  admitted  to  destroy  the  natural  buoy- 
ancy of  the  craft,  by  way  of  tlie  ballast  tanks.  The  diving  rudders, 
forward  at  the  bow,  and  aft  at  the  stern,  are  deflected,  and  the  water 
closes  over  the  sea  tiger,  leaving  but  a  few  bubbles  to  mark  its  going. 

A  gauge  registers  the  depth  to  which  she  sinks.  The  greatest 
depth  at  which  she  operates  is  ordinarily  one  hundred  feet,  but  sub- 
marines have  operated  as  far  do\vn  as  from  two  hundred  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  feet.  Here  the  pressure  of  the  water  is  so  powerful 
that  there  is  danger  of  crushing  the  sides  and  being  unable  to  rise  to 
safety.  To  test  the  streng-fh  of  a  new  submarine's  hull  they  must 
submerge  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  if  they  are  of  the  large  type, 
as  this  has  been  found  to  leave  the  right  margin  of  safety. 


OUR  UNDERSEA  FIGHTERS 


19 


Wlien  running  submerged  the  swish  of  a  ship's  propellers  in  the 
vicinity  can  be  heard  inside  the  submarine;  and  when  the  captain  is 
thus  warned  of  the  enemy's  presence  he  can  rest  in  peace  on  a  clean 
bed  of  sand  while  the  submarine  hunters  cruise  vainly  above. 

Without  the  periscope  the  submarine  would  be  a  blinded  fighter. 
Its  most  deadly  Avoi-k  is  done  at  a  submerged  distance  which  shows 
but  a  foot  or  two  of  the  periscope's  tip.  The  periscope  is  a  long 
vertical  tube  of  small  diameter,  with  prisms  at  either  end  and  the 
necessary  lenses.  Eighteen  feet  above  the  deck  it  runs;  and  below, 
where  the  other  end  pierces  the  hull,  is  the  eyepiece  for  the  observer. 


Courtesy  of  "  Fleet  Rev 


LAUNCHING      B-2      FROM  COLLIER  IN  MANILA  BAY 


It  can  be  turned  in  any  direction,  and  when  an  enemy  ship,  or  a 
merchantman  trying  to  run  the  blockade,  comes  within  its  field,  the 
submarine  is  suddenly  transformed  into  a  formidable  and  stealthy  sea 
tiger.  The  periscope  becomes  its  eyes,  and  the  dials,  compasses,  and 
other  instruments  of  the  fire-control  its  brain.  The  engines  that  carry 
it  to  effective  range  are  its  swift,  tireless  legs,  and  the  destructive 
charge  of  250  pounds  of  gun-cotton  in  the  unleashed  torpedo  the  death- 
dealing  jaws  and  rending  claws  of  the  great  cat  that  has  seen  its  prey 
and  steals  up  on  it  with  the  skill  of  a  tiger  stalking  a  buffalo. 

The  submarine  chooses  to  fight  at  as  close  quarters  as  can  be  had 
with  safety,  to  cut  down  the  chance  of  missing  its  big  quarry,  and 
because  an  unlimited  supply  of  the  $8,000  torpedoes  cannot  be  carried. 
As  soon  as  its  target  is  discovered — it  may  be  miles  distant — the  cap- 
tain takes  his  bearings  and  down  goes  the  "sub"  and  with  it  the  telltale 


20 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


periscope  that,  once  seen,  draws  a  shower  of  shells  which  would  crush 
its  skin  as  though  it  were  but  an  eggshell.  Then  he  dives  and  steers  by 
his  bearings  to  a  range  as  close  as  is  wise.  Up  goes  the  periscope  for  a 
final  aim,  just  high  enough  to  make  it  certain,  and  the  submarine  swings 
about  to  bring  its  torpedo  tubes  in  line  with  the  target.  In  the  time  that 
the  torpedo  covers  a  thousand  yards  a  dreadnought  will  steam  twice  her 
length;  and  this,  and  the  conditions  of  the  weather,  must  be  quickly 


A   SUBMARIXK    FLOTILLA 


and  accurately  considered  by  the  "sub's"  skipper.  The  war  has  shown 
that  when  a  submarine  is  discovered  the  only  safety  for  a  vessel  is  to 
steer  a  zigzag  course  and  crowd  on  enough  steam  to  let  the  torpedo  go 
tearing  by.  The  slightest  error  in  aim  is  fatal  to  a  submarine's  chances 
of  a  telling  hit. 

When  the  exact  position  is  determined  comes  the  word :  ' '  Stand 
by  to  fire  a  torpedo!  .  .  .  Fire!"  Straight  as  an  arrow  speeds  the 
cigar-shaped  missile  and  its  deadly  gun-cotton,  traveling  ten  to  fifteen 
feet  below  water  to  make  its  hit  beneath  the  vulnerable  waterline  of 
its  target.  The  compressed  air  that  is  its  motive  power  shows  in  the 
torpedo's  wake  in  a  sinister  track  of  light  air-bubbles.     The  impact 


OUR  UNDERSEA  FIGHTERS 


21 


of  the  torpedo's  head  on  the  hull  of  the  luckless  ship  explodes  the 
shattering  charge  of  gun-cotton  and  this  first  explosion  is  felt  slightly 
within  the  hull  of  the  waiting  submarine.  Often  there  is  a  second 
explosion  if  the  torpedo  finds  the  ship's  boilers  or  her  powder 
magazines. 

Then  the  diving  rudders  are  reversed,  the  ballast  tanks  pumped 
out  by  compressed  air,  and  the  long,  shark-like  body  creeps  warily  to 
the  surface  for  a 
"look  see,"  as  the 
sailors  have  it. 
The  critical  mo- 
ment, whenever  a 
"sub"  rises,  be- 
gins when  the  peri- 
scope has  climbed 
to  a  point  where  it 
reaches  the  depth 
of  a  ship 's  keel.  It 
ends  only  after  the 
periscope's  tip 
shakes  off  the  wa- 
ter and  the  captain 
can  sweep  the  sur- 
face with  its  aid. 
All  this  time  his 
craft  is  like  a 
great,  blinded  fish, 
helpless  against  at- 
tack. As  the  tijj 
clears  the  surface 
the  dark  shade  of 

the  sea  fades  to  the  grass  green  of  the  undersurface,  and  then  white 
air-bubbles  can  be  seen  as  the  silver  touch  of  daylight  signals  the  return 
to  the  surface. 

With  the  nerves  of  the  crew  at  high  tension,  iron  men  though  they 
are,  comes  the  search  for  the  enemy.  A  seething  white  cloud  of  steam 
pouring  from  the  open  hatches  and  ports  of  the  crippled  vessel  tells 
its  tale.  A  few  minutes  later  there  is  nothing  but  a  huddle  of  wreckage 
to  show  where  the  submarine  has  added  another  to  its  grewsome  toll. 

Just  as  the  European  War  brought  the  possibilities  of  the  sub- 
marine to  a  skill  never  dreamed  of,  so  has  it  brought  to  the  front  the 


TRYING  OUT  A  NEW  SUBMARINE 


22  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

methods  of  hunting  down  and  destroying  or  capturing  it.  On  blockade 
duty  trawlers,  towing  between  them  grappling  lines,  sweep  suspected 
areas  for  them.  To  protect  the  clumsy  trawlers  torpedo  craft  patrol 
outside  with  unceasing  vigil  and  tow  explosive-laden  sweeps  behind 
them.  At  other  points  where  submarines  have  been  reported  are 
stretched  stationary  nets  with  mines  above.  The  explosive  sweeps 
and  the  mines,  when  detonated  by  the  touch  of  the  submarine,  explode 
with  deadly  effect. 

Many  submarines  in  the  course  of  the  war  were  caught  in  nets  of 
wire.     Their  ])ropollers  fouled  in  the  meshes,  and  as  the  submarines 


rill';  I'Aiii 


111';  riiui'KDi) 


were  closed  tight  against  the  water,  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  cut 
the  net  away.  When  trapped  in  this  manner  their  fate  was  sealed. 
The  initial  air  carried  inside  a  submarine  lasts  but  little  more  than 
half  a  day.  Then  air  had  to  be  used  from  the  air  flasks  or  "banks" 
and  the  foul  air  could  not  be  pumped  out,  as  then  would  come  a 
vacuum  in  which  the  crew  could  not  live.  Three  days  or  possibly  four 
and  the  trapped  sea  tiger  held  only  a  dead  crew. 

Seaplanes,  when  the  sea  is  calm,  the  bottom  light  in  color,  and 
the  air  conditions  good,  can  spot  and  follow  submarines  when  they  are 
within  fifty  feet  of  tlie  surface. 

It  calls  for  men  of  iron  nerves  and  quick  decision  to  man  our 
submarines  either  in  peace  or  in  war.  Submarine  experts  look  upon 
the  factor  of  nerves  as  the  most  important  of  all,  and  they  have  given 
to  it  the  title  of  calculation.  Within  the  cramped  walls  that  are  the 
home  of  the  crew  are  housed  the  most  intricate  mechanisms  that  man 
has  invented  for  warfare.  Outside  its  steel  walls  are  mines,  great  nets 
of  wire,  explosives,  shells,  and  seaplanes,  all  devised  for  its  destruction, 
and  the  sharp  keels  of  ships  that  slice  through  a  submarine  as  a  knife 


OUR  UNDERSEA  FIGHTERS  23 

cuts  cheese.  The  smallest  shell  can  penetrate  the  steel  skin,  and  nets 
can  hold  the  submarine  as  helpless  as  a  child  in  the  grasp  of  a  giant. 
Danger  lies  everywhere  for  the  tiger  of  the  seas.  The  ocean  in  which 
it  lives  is  a  powder  tank  that  needs  but  a  spark.  Only  nerves  of  iron 
can  cope  against  such  an  array  of  enemies.  The  slightest  hesitation 
of  its  captain  in  the  face  of  any  one  of  them  means  the  end  of  his  ship 
and  his  crew.  As  one  expert  has  put  it,  the  whole  A  B  C  of  submarine 
warfare  is  the  ability  to  meet  any  situation  at  an  instant's  warning 
and  then  to  act  with  nerves  of  steel. 


LAYING  A  BATTLESHIP  S  KEEL  AT  THE  FORE  RIVER  SHIPYARDa 


III 


THE  BIRTH  OF  A  SUPERDREADNOUGHT 


FROM  the  first  step  in  the  conception  of  a  mighty  superdread- 
nought  until  her  captain's  pennant  flies  over  her,  the  chapters 
of  her  life  are  screened  from  public  view  except  for  the  pic- 
turesque ceremonies  of  the  laying  of  her  keel  and  her  launching.  Only 
ih*^  privileged  few  are  allowed  fleeting  glimpses  behind  the  screen  that 
prudence,  and  military  necessity,  rear  about  the  new  fighting  monster. 
The  finished  fighter  is  not  the  work  of  any  one  man,  or  any  one 
ship-building  yard.  Down  in  the  offices  of  the  General  Board  of  the 
Navy  Department  at  Washington,  over  which  the  hero  of  the  Battle 
of  Manila  Bay,  Admiral  George  Dewey,  ruled,  its  birth  begins.  The 
recommendations  of  these  expert  advisers  giiide  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  in  his  dealings  with  the  Naval  Committees  of  Congress  when 
they  meet  to  di-aw  up  tJie  building  program  for  the  American  Navy. 

24 


THE  BIRTH  OF  SUPERDREADNOUGHT  25 

When  the  Naval  Appropriation  Bill  has  run  the  gauntlet  of  Congress, 
and  the  pen  of  the  President  has  made  it  law,  the  chiefs  of  the  various 
bureaus  of  the  Navy  Department  are  ready  with  their  plans  and  their 
specifications.  On  these  the  navy-yards  and  private  ship-building 
yards  make  up  their  estimates  of  time  and  cost. 

The  ship-builder  has  not  been  idle.  The  plans  still  require  that 
he,  through  his  corps  of  crack  draftsmen,  must  submit  estimates  or 
bids  that  require  the  outlay  of  many  thousands  of  dollars.     All  these 


THEN  CO.MK.S  TlIK  TUAiNSVEKlSE  FRAMING 


finished  estimates  are  sent  to  the  Navy  Department  in  sealed  envelopes, 
opened  on  a  certain  day,  and  the  awards  for  construction  of  the  new 
ships  are  placed.  Not  a  moment's  time  passes  before  the  lucky  bidder 
puts  his  force  to  work  at  maximum  capacity  to  make  detail  drawings 
for  the  work.  Orders  for  bis  steel  and  other  material  are  rushed 
through  with  the  same  celerity. 

The  keel  is  the  first  part  of  the  superdreadnouglit  to  be  laid 
down.  Even  while  its  drawing  and  its  material  are  under  way  the 
shipwrights  work  at  top  speed  preparing  the  blocking  on  which  the 
keel-]3lates  are  to  be  laid.  On  the  floor  of  the  mold  loft  of  one  of  the 
largest  buildings  in  the  shipyard  is  begun  another  highly  impoi'tant 


26 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OP  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


work.  The  plan  of  the  shape  of  the  new  fighter,  known  as  the  "lines," 
is  here  enlarged  to  actual  size.  The  shape  of  each  transverse  frame, 
which  in  your  rowboat  you  call  a  rib,  is  shown  on  this  floor,  and  then 
a  "template,"  or  wooden  form,  is  made  to  fit  the  "frame." 

These   are   rushed   over  to  the  bending  "slab,"  where  the   steel 

frames  are  heated 
red-hot  in  the  fur- 
nace and  bent  to 
the  shape  of  the 
' '  template. ' '  Sim- 
ilar plans  are  fol- 
lowed in  shaping 
the  bulkheads  and 
decks.  As  each 
part  of  this  work  is 
finished  the  ship- 
fitters  begin  their 
noisy  chorus, 
punching  holes  in 
the  structural 
steel,  and  it  is  then 
ready  to  be  bolted 
up  in  its  proper 
place  on  the  ship's 
skeleton  and  rivet- 
ed on.  The  trans- 
verse frames  are 
joined  to  the  long 
stretch  of  keel,  and 
the  ship-builder 
bends  his  energies 
on  the  array  of 
transverse  and 
longitudinal  bulkheads  that  divide  the  sea-fighter  below  the  water  line 
into  hundreds  of  rooms  so  skillfully  fitted  that  they  are  watertight 
compartments.  Should  a  shell,  a  torpedo  or  mine  pierce  one  of  these 
compartments,  the  other  bulkheads  confine  the  damage  to  a  small  space 
and  our  sea-fighter  can  still  deliver  her  mighty  blows. 

This  work  below  the  water  line  shelters  the  very  vitals  of  the  great 
machine :  the  machinery  and  the  magazines ;  and  above  them  all  the 
craftsmen  of  the  shipyard  build  the  heavy  steel  deck  so  aptly  called 


THE  PROTECTIVE  DECK  IS  CURVED  AS  GREATER  PROTECTION 
AGAINST  SHELL  FIRE 


28 


THE  .MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


the  protective  deck.  The  sides  of  this  guardian  sliield  of  steel  slope 
down  so  that  an  enemy's  shell  loses  the  deadly  advantage  of  a  direct 
hit,  and  deals  but  a  glancing  blow. 

Above  this  structure  i.s  built  the  main  deck  and  the  upper  deck, 
with  heavy  plating  that  protects  the  shij)  from  falling  shells  and  from 
aerial  attacks.     Along  their  length  gape  openings  where  the  mighty 

turrets,  the  stacks, 
and  the  masts  are 
to  be  located.  The 
big  ship  is  now 
well  advanced  and 
every  department 
of  the  shipyard  is 
racing  to  guaran- 
tee its  completion 
within  the  contract 
time.  The  pattern 
makers  are  shap- 
ing their  patterns 
for  castings,  which 
the  foundries  mold 
in  iron,  steel,  and 
brass.  The  machine 
shop  is  turning  out 
its  products,  and 
the  copper  and 
pipe  shops  are  as 
busy  as  beavers  in- 
stalling pipes  for 
THE  TURRETS  REAR  THEIR  STEEL  HEADS  drainao"e    and   fire 

mains  and  pump- 
ing and  steam  pipes.  When  the  ship  at  last  is  ready  for  her  place  in 
the  fighting  line  her  network  of  pipes  can  easily  be  traced,  and  their 
functions  seen  at  a  glance,  for  each  carries  its  own  distinctive  band 
of  color. 

Over  in  the  blacksmith  shop  small  forgings  are  being  turned  out, 
and  the  electricians  are  running  their  miles  of  wiring.  Teakwood 
backing  is  being  put  on  the  armor,  and  the  sheet-metal  shops  are  busy 
with  the  ventilation  x)iping  and  metal  furniture,  for  the  modern  fighter 
has  little  use  for  wood  with  its  risk  of  fire  or  splinters.  The  paint 
shop  sends  its  swarm  of  men  to  put  on  the  first  coat  of  red  lead ;  and 


THE  BIRTH  OF  SUPERDREADNOUGHT 


29 


all  through  the  yard,  with  its  mass  of  shops  and  thousand  woikers, 
the  great  job  moves  on  with  beautiful  teamwork,  despite  the  apparent 
confusion  that  bewilders  the  lajTiian. 

Outside  the  limits  of  the  shipyard  a  corps  of  specialists  are  doing 
their  part.  Some  furnish  the  steel  plates  and  others  the  hoisting- 
machinery  for  the  giant  anchor  chains.  Electrical  manufacturers  sup- 
ply motors  and 
dynamos,  and  still 
others  the  electric 
fans  which  draw  in 
great  draughts  of 
fresh  air  for  ven- 
tilation, laundry 
machinery,  electric 
bake-ovens,  and  all 
the  wealth  of  elec- 
trical wonders  that 
are  housed  in  the 
finished  ship.  And 
follo"\ving  up  each 
detail  of  the  work 
comes  a  corps  of 
inspectors  who  rig- 
idly inspect  and 
then  test  every 
foot  and  piece  of  it 
all. 

The  ship  can 
now  be  likened  to  a 
great  hotel  with 
stories  ten  feet 
high.  It  has  three 
cellars  of  this 
depth  below  its 

ground  floor.  Above  that  comes  the  floor  that  is  level  with  the  bridge ; 
and  so  it  goes,  to  a  total  height  of  eleven  such  floors;  to  a  point  just 
below  the  circular  platforms  of  the  fighting  masts,  where  the  "spot- 
ters" are  stationed  in  action  to  observe  the  splash  of  her  shells  and 
correct  the  range.  The  electric  plant  is  powerful  enough  to  supply 
ten  40-watt  lamps  to  each  of  the  crew  of  1,000,  and  the  bakery,  galley 
and  kitchen  sufficient  to  feed  them. 


THE  STEEN  VIEW  WHEN  KEADV  FOR  LAUNCHING 


30 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


The  ship  carries  her  own  blacksmith  shop,  coppersmith  shop  and 
machine  shop.  One  floor  has  its  "sick  bay,"  as  the  hospital  is  called, 
with  twelve  beds,  an  operating  room  and  an  isolation  ward.  All  of 
these  and  many  other  facilities  beyond  the  instrnments  with  which 
she   fights   are   found   in  the  modern   superdreadnonght.     Should  a 


THE    BOW    CHAINS    ARE    RELEASED    WHEN    SHE    TAKES    THE  WATER 


mighty  tidal  wave  lift  her  unharmed  on  to  a  desert  island  she  would 
be  a  city  in  herself. 

The  months  mount  up  to  twenty  from  the  laying  of  the  keel,  and 
the  big  fighter,  minus  her  guns,  turrets,  and  part  of  her  armor,  is  ready 
to  slide  into  the  water  that  has  been  waiting  patiently  for  her  child. 
These  would  add  too  much  weight  foi'  the  launching.  The  carpenters 
build  under  her  huge  bulk  the  launching  ways.  Two  ground  ways,  for 
all  the  world  like  the  boardwalks  at  an  ocean  resort,  are  secured  to 
the  gTound.  The  sliding  ways  are  made  fast  to  the  ship  to  take  the 
pliinge  with  her.    Between  the  two  is  laid  a  thick  layer  of  grease.    By 


THE  BIRTH  OF  SUPERDREADNOUGHT 


31 


driving  wedges  into  the  sliding  ways  the  weight  of  the  monster  is 
transferred  from  its  long  resting-place  on  the  keel  blocks  and  other 
supports  to  the  ways  alone.  The  keel  blocks  and  supports  are  then 
removed  and  only  two  heavy  oak  ties  hold  her  back  from  the  dive. 

The  veil  of  secrecy  is  lifted  on  the  great  day  of  the  launching  and 
a  distinguished  company  is  assembled  on  the  flag-decked  platform  at 
her  bow.    On  a  given  signal  the  oak  ties  are  saAved  in  two,  and  as  the 


THK    IHAILIXC  I  HAIXS  <  I1I':(K   IIKK  HEADWAY 


giant  moves  slowly  toward  the  water  the  sponsor  breaks  a  bottle  of 
champagne,  swung  in  a  nest  of  silken  ribbons  to  keep  the  fragments 
from  flying,  on  the  steel  bow  and  christens  her.  The  sponsor  is  always 
a  woman  selected  by  the  Governor,  of  the  State  for  which  the  super- 
dreadnought  is  named,  and  her  choice  is  a  great  honor.  A  band  plays 
and  a  mighty  shout  from  the  guests  and  the  happy  workmen  follows 
her  as  the  sea-fighter  gathers  momentum  and  strikes  the  water  with  a 
mighty  crash.  The  heavy  chains  loo]ied  along  her  sides  are  released 
when  she  takes  the  water — "water-borne,"  the  shipyard  calls  it — and, 
trailing  behind,  check  her  plunge. 

Fussy  tugs  nose  her  into  the  shipfitting  basin,  where  giant  cranes 


32 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


swing  into  place  her  turrets,  guns,  and  armor.  The  masts,  deckhouses, 
and  other  fittings  are  erected ;  and  after  the  machinery  and  boilers  are 
swallowed  up  in  her  holds,  hatches  are  fitted  over  the  openings.  The 
smoke-stack  rears  its  great  column,  and  she  is  ready  for  cleaning  and 
the  final  coat  of  war  gray. 

Out  she  steams  to  a  measured-mile  course  at  sea,  with  the  American 


WATER-BORNE 

flag  at  her  taftVail  and  the  builder's  red  flag  at  her  maintrnck.  He 
must  prove  to  the  Navy  Department  that  his  engines  can  drive  her  over 
that  mile  at  the  guaranteed  speed,  that  her  fuel  consumption  does  not 
exceed  a  certain  limit,  and  that  she  can  pass  other  tests  of  speed  and 
endurance. 

Success  crowns  the  trials  and  the  builder  delivers  her  to  the  Com- 
mandant of  her  designated  navy-yard.  Here  she  is  fitted  out  with 
ammunition,  stores,  and  supplies.  The  day  comes  when  the  Com- 
mandant turns  her  over  to  her  Captain,  a  finished  superdreadnought. 
Twenty  months  have  come  and  gone  since  the  laying  of  her  keel,  and 
a  thousand  men  have  put  their  best  into  her. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  SUPERDREADNOUGHT 


33 


It  is  a  gala  day  for  the  Navy  when  her  newest  and  most  powerful 
fighter  is  ushered  into  the  Fleet  with  picturesque  and  colorful  initiation. 
Officers  and  crew,  a  thousand  in  all,  are  drawn  up  in  ranks  on  her 
broad  decks.  The  Commandant,  with  the  broad  gold  stripes  of  a  Rear- 
Admiral  on  his  sleeves,  and  the  stars  on  his  collar,  reads  aloud  the 
Secretary's  order  placing  the  Captain  in  command.     The  American 


INSTALLING  HER  14-INCH  GUNS 


flag  creeps  slowly  up  the  hoist,  with  the  crew  at  attention,  the  marines 
presenting  arms,  and  the  drummer  and  bugler  playing  the  " ruffles"  and 
* 'flourishes"  to  the  national  colors.  The  ship's  band  crashes  into  the 
national  anthem,  and  at  its  last  note  the  thousand  men  who  are  to 
sling  their  hanniiocks  on  the  splendid  fighting  machine  bring  their 
right  hands  down  smartly  in  the  end  of  their  salute.  In  a  few  well- 
chosen  words  the  Captain  greets  his  crew;  bugles  and  bo.sun  pipes 
shrill  their  ' '  Carry  on ! "  and  the  superdreadnought  is  ready  for  active 
service. 


SHE  STEAM^  (HI    I  i(i  iM  FORE  RIVER  FOR  HER  BUILDER  S    TRIALS 


FULL  SPEED  OVER  THE  MILE  COURSE 
34 


^^m^' 

3^ 

U-iJ^^HKHBi    .('■i.'li';  1 

J^^^^H^H^^J  J;,  r 

Courtesu  iif  "  t'kfl  Hi 


LOOKING  AFT  FROM  A  DREADNOUGHT  S  BOW 


IV 


ALL   AROUND  A   BATTLESHIP 


IF  the  safety  of  the  United  States  should  ever  depend  on  its  Navy 
to  keep  an  invading  fleet  from  its  shores,  the  battleship  will  have 

to  bear  the  heaviest  burden,  for  she  is  the  backbone  of  a  navy. 
She  is  the  only  fighting  ship  that  can  keep  command  of  the  seas  by 
taking  it  and  keeping  it  in  all  weather  and  fighting  the  enemy's  strong- 
est ships.  She  is  the  acknowledged  champion  of  the  seas,  with  the 
heaviest  gTins  and  torpedoes,  and  the  greatest  protection  of  massive 
armor.  Her  place  is  in  the  main  line  of  battle,  for  she  can  give  and 
take  the  heaviest  blows.  The  issue  of  a  great  sea  fight,  after  the 
smaller  vessels  have  been  driven  "behind  her  lines  or  sunk,  will  be  the 
battle  of  these  giants. 

The  ships  that  first  brought  fame  to  the  American  flag  were  the 
wooden  ships  of  the  line.  The  largest  had  batteries  of  seventy-four 
guns  of  varying  sizes  on  two  or  three  decks.  The  thick  oak  sides  stood 
terrible  punishment  in  those  days  from  the  round  shot  poured  into 
them  at  short  range. 

35 


ALL  AROUND  A  BATTLESHIP 


37 


Steam  and  iron  ended  the  reigii  of  the  wooden  ship  of  the  line. 
The  first  fight  between  iron  ships  came  in  the  meeting  of  the  Monitor 
and  the  Merrimac  in  the  Civil  War.  The  Monitor  was  the  beginning 
of  the  battleship  era,  for  she  was  the  first  ship  in  which  the  principle 

of  a  few   of   the 

heaviest  guns  Avas 
matched  against 
many  smaller  ones, 
and  an  a  1 1  e  m  p  t 
was  made  to  give 
real  and  not  par- 
tial armor  protec- 
tion to  gams  and 
engines. 

Then  came  the 
battleship,  a  tri- 
umph of  steel  and 
steam.  The  Massa- 
chusetts, Oregon, 
and  Indiana,  all 
heroes  of  the  San- 
tiago fight,  were 
the  first  laid  down 
for  our  Navy  in 
1890.  They  were 
great  fighters,  but 
they  had  but  one- 
third  the  displace- 
ment of  our  newest 
dreadnoughts,  and 
their  guns  were  but 
one-half  the  caliber 
of  the  ones  now 
building.  Then 
came  bigger  ships, 
bigger  guns,  and  heavier  armor.  Li  1906  the  British  launched  H.M.S. 
Dreadnought,  the  first  all-big-gun-sliip,  and  the  ships  that  followed 
were  all  known  as  dreadnoughts  rather  than  battleships.  Our  first 
dreadnought  was  the  Delaware.  It  was  long  the  pride  of  the  Ameri- 
can Navy. 

To-day  we  are  building  superdreadnoughts  which  carry  big  guns 


Courtesy  of  "Scientific  American" 

THE  world's  first  DREADNOUGHT 


THE  "aRKAN.SA«       on  HER  BUILDERS  TRIAL 


Copyright  by  N.  L.  Slcbbins 


THE       UTAH       AT  FULL  SPEED 


THE       WYOMING       STANDS  OUT  TO  SEA 
3S 


ALL  AROUND  A  BATTLESPIIP  39 

of  only  one  caliber,  three  to  a  turret,  mounted  all  on  a  center-line,  the 
guns  of  one  turret  above  the  other,  to  give  the  heaviest  broadside  and 
the  greatest  field  of  fire.  Her  secondary  battery  guns  are  for  torpedo 
defense  or  attacks  by  aircraft,  and  she  has  two  military  masts  and  but 
one  stack.  Her  armor  is  the  heaviest  and  she  carries  a  crew  of  1,000 
men. 

Let  us  hoard  the  U.  S.  S.  Pennsylvania,  which,  with  her  sister  ship, 
the  Arizona,  shares  the  honor  of  being  the  most  powerful  super- 
dreadnought  flying  our  flag. 

The  Neiv  Mexico  has  been  launched,  and  others  are  on  the  stocks. 
All  of  these,  when  put  into  actual  commission,  will  overshadow  the 
Pennsylvania  in  tonnage  and  in  fighting  power. 

You  are  first  struck  by  the  wonderful  sweep  of  the  deck  from  bow 
to  stern,  for  she  is  600  feet  long.  While  not  so  long  as  the  greatest 
ocean  liner,  she  is  much  wider  in  proportion,  with  a  beam  one-sixth 
her  length.  An  officer  or  bluejacket  will  gladly  show  you  over  her; 
but  if  the  officer  of  the  deck  calls  a  bluejacket,  do  not  make  the  mistake 
at  the  end  of  your  tour  of  otfering  him  money.  That  he  will  resent. 
All  he  asks  is  a  hearty  "Thank  you!" 

First  of  all  you  learn  that  the  ship  dit^places  32,000  tons  of  water 
with  her  guns,  armor,  and  other  details,  and  perhaps  you  wonder  how 
so  heavy  a  mass  of  steel  can  float. 

It  was  Archimedes,  a  Greek  mathematician,  who  discovered  that 
when  an  object  floats  on  water  it  displaces,  or  pushes  aside,  an  equal 
weight  of  water.  But  place  a  piece  of  tin  in  the  water  and  it  sinks. 
Shape  it  into  a  tin  can  and  it  floats.  In  its  flat  shape  it  does  not  really 
displace  water,  so  an  object  floats  not  from  its  weight  but  its  form. 
Fill  the  can  with  water  and  drop  in  a  stone.  The  water  that  flows  over 
the  sides  will  be  exactly  the  weight  of  the  stone. 

The  big  turrets  with  their  triple  guns  catch  your  eye.  Each  of  the 
big  guns,  you  hear,  weighs  64  tons  and  is  52  feet  long.  Each  fires  a 
1,400-pound  shell  when  loaded  with  smokeless  powder  that  weighs  380 
pounds.  It  costs  Uncle  Sam  $500  to  fire  this  gun  in  battle.  When  you 
learn  that  all  twelve  14-inch  guns  can  be  fired  in  one  broadside  and 
throw  seven  and  a  half  tons  of  steel  at  a  target  you  are  staggered. 
The  bluejacket  smiles  and  tells  you  that  for  each  pound  of  that  broad- 
side the  actual  cost  is  $815,  for  it  cost  $13,695,000  to  build  and  equip 
the  Pennsylvania  before  that  broadside  could  be  fired. 

You  look  at  the  great  steel  tubes,  rigid  as  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar, 
and  you  smile  when  he  tells  you  that  the  shock  of  firing  actually  sets 
them  vibrating.    The  vibration  is  small  and  it  is  called  the  "whip"  of 


ALL  AROUND  A  BATTLESHIP 


41 


the  gun,  just  the  same  on  a  smaller  scale  as  the  "whip"  of  a  tishi)ole 
when  you  shake  it. 

( )ne  of  the  nnizzles  is  open  and  you  wonder  what  the  shining 
wooden  plugs  with  the  brass  five-pointed  star  in  the  others  are  for. 
They  are  tompions  to  keep  the  spray  from  dashing  in  and  rusting  the 
steel  bore.  Even  the  little  three-pounders  that  fire  the  Pennsylvania's 
salutes  have  them. 

You  are  even  more  interested  when  you  hear  that  the  terrific  blast 
of  the  rushing  shells  would  throw  them  off  the  mark  if  all  three  were 


THE     ■  NEW  YORK       IX  A  SEAWAY 


fired  at  the  same  instant.  So  only  the  two  outer  ones  are  fired  together, 
and  the  center  one  the  fraction  of  a  second  later.  Your  bluejacket 
also  tells  you,  when  he  notes  your  sparkling  eyes,  that  swinging  all 
three  guns  to  one  side  would  list  the  big  ship  to  that  side.  He  points 
out  the  great  overhang  in  the  back  of  the  turret,  which  swings  to  the 
opposite  side  and  keeps  her  on  an  'even  keel. 

How  are  the  turrets  moved!  you  ask.  By  motors  that  revolve 
them  on  a  path  with  steel  rollers  between  the  path  and  the  turret  like 
the  tiny  steel  balls  in  the  ball  bearings  of  a  bicj'cle.  An  American, 
T.  R.  Timby,  invented  the  revolving  turret,  and  Ericsson,  their  first 
liuilder,  paid  him  a  royalty  of  $5,000  on  each  turret  that  he  built. 

Before  you  leave  the  after  turrets  to  go  forward  with  your  guide 


AT.L  AEOUND  A  BATTLESHIP 


43 


l)E  ISLAND      AT  ANCHOR 


you    must   1  c  a  r  n 

more    about    the 

fascinating  subject 

of    the    Pennsyl- 
vania's armor,  for 

it  is  one-fourth  her 

total  weight!     On 

the  triple  turrets 

the  thickest  is   18 

inches,  and  on  the 

barbette — the  stem 

on  which  a  turret 

revolves — it   is    13 

inches  thick.     The 

heaviest,  of  course, 

is    on    her   water- 
line,  to  protect  her 

from     torpedoes 

and    shells    that 

would  otherwise  burst  in  the  vitals  of  her  machinery  or  magazines. 

This  armor  belt  runs  nearly  three-fourths  of  her  length,  in  a  strip  ISi/o 

inches  thick,  and  from  top  to  bottom  17  feet  wide  with  one-half  below 

her  waterline.    Then  there  must  be  armor  for  the  conning  tower  of  16 

inches,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  the  armor 
for  the  base  of  her 
stacks. 

You  look  at 
the  spotless  wood- 
en deck  at  your 
feet  and  innocently 
ask  why  it  is  not 
armored  too. 
Three  and  a  half 
inches  below  you 
runs  a  steel  deck, 
while  the  next  deck 
below  is  the  ar- 
mored protection 
deck  to  cheat  fall- 

THE  TURBET  CREWS  ARE  ALWAYS  AT  PRACTICE  I'^S    ShellS    ailCi    tUC 


ALL  AROUND  A  BATTLESHIP 


45 


bombs  of  Zeppelins 
or  aeroplanes  from 
piercing  it,  but  a 
deck  of  metal 
would  be  unbear- 
able to  bare  feet  in 
the  tropics.  The 
wood  is  teak,  an 
expensive  wood, 
but  much  better 
than  the  yellow 
pine  on  the  older 
ships,  and  its  seams 
do  not  spread. 

Forward  we 
go,  vnth  some  of 
your  curiosity  sat- 
isfied but  still  keen 
for  more  facts 
about  this  modern 
fighting  machine. 
Passing  the  after 
military  mast  wo 
come  to  a  house- 
like  building  called 
the  superstructure. 
In  its  steel  walls 
are  the  galleys  or 
kitchens,  the  bak- 
ery, blacksmith 
shop,  and  many 
other  interesting 
and  necessary 
spots  that  make 
the  superdread- 
nought  a  floating 
city,  a  workshop, 
and  an  arsenal  for 
one  thousand 
American  blue- 
jackets. 


Courtesy  of ' Our  A'ni'i/" 

THE  BULL  DOG 


'  OREGON"  TAKES  A  DRINK 


THE    "TEXAS"    ON   MANEUVERS 
Note  the  Anti-.\ircraft  Gun  on  Searchlight  Platform 


46  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

The  Pennsylvania's  galley  is  oil-burning,  not  so  interesting  as  the 
electrical  ones  of  the  Nevada  and  Oklahoma,  but  our  ship  burns  oil  and 
it  is  more  economical  to  use  it  also  in  the  galley.  Oil  is  the  best  fuel 
and  is  rapidly  driving  coal  out  of  the  Fleet.  The  crew  hailed  its  coming 
with  delight,  for,  although  the  band  plays  through  the  coaling  of  a 
ship,  there  is  no  task  so  fatiguing  or  disagreeable.  Oil  is  almost  smoke- 
less, too,  and  the  oil-burner  increases  or  reduces  speed  more  quickly; 
and  the  space  formerly  taken  up  by  coal-bunkers  now  adds  greatly  to 
the  berthing  space  and  comfort  of  the  men.  Instead  of  the  endless 
procession  of  heavy  coal  bags  and  the  clouds  of  coal-dust  the  Penn^ 
sylvania  takes  her  oil  on  board  from  a  hose  attached  to  an  oil  barge, 
with  no  more  fuss  than  the  turning  on  of  a  kitchen  spigot.  In  her  tanks 
she  carries  2,300  tons  of  the  heavy  oil. 

Just  as  we  pass  the  supej'sti'ucture  we  see  the  steel  conning  tower 
with  its  roof  peei)ing  above  the  after  forward  turret.  Here  is  the 
Captain's  station  in  battle  and  it  has  been  called  the  brains  of  the  ship. 
It  has  communications  leading  to  all  parts  of  the  ship  through  armored 
tubes  protecting  them  until  they  come  within  the  shelter  of  the  side 
armor.  As  the  conning  tower  is  a  small  target,  and  so  heavily  pro- 
tected, it  will  stand  the  heaviest  punishment  and  may  be  the  last  spot 
from  which  the  Captain  can  fight  and  navigate  his  ship. 

Forward,  on  either  side  of  the  deck,  run  great  anchor  chains  along 
steel  plates,  with  their  own  engines  for  lowering  and  hoisting  the 
anchors.  We  are  now  up  in  the  "eyes"  of  the  ship,  where  the  chains 
lead  through  the  yawning  hawse  pipes,  and  you  recall  that  when  you 
saw  the  bow  before  coming  on  board,  in  place  of  the  knife-like  stem 
you  had  expected  to  see,  the  Pennsylvama's  bow  was  a  wide,  flaring 
clipper  bow,  somewhat  like  that  of  old  sailing  ships.  Like  everything 
aboard  ship  there  is  a  good  reason  for  the  clipper  bow,  for  the  wide 
flares  keep  seas  from  tumbling  on  board  as  in  the  old  battleshijjs,  and 
the  turrets  are  not  bothered  with  the  pounding  of  the  seas  nor  their 
telescopes  by  flying  spray.  It  has  made  the  forecastle,  a  favorite  spot 
of  the  crew,  much  more  livable  at  sea. 

We  turn  back  to  the  bridge,  a  mine  of  interesting  details,  crammed 
with  devices  that  are  in  constant  use  in  fighting  and  sailing.  Your 
bluejacket  friend  calls  them  "gadgets."  Amidships  of  its  length  is  the 
signal  locker,  and  when  you  lift  the  lid  the  racks  are  gay  with  bunting. 
At  either  wing  are  the  semajihores  and  hand  searchlights.  Compasses, 
steering  wheels,  dials,  speaking-tubes  and  telephones  that  connect  with 
all  parts  of  the  ship  greet  your  eye.  Just  off  the  steel  ladder  is  a 
flat  lever.    Turn  this  lever  and  the  great  ship  would  resound  with  it? 


w 

m 

p- 

— -,^=-:tMB|.      -■■■ 

.ri   a 

-    m 

• 

-My 

jPHi 

u 


m 


r^asi 


Copyright,  E.  Muller,  Jr.,  N.  Y. 

LOOKING  DOWN  OK  A  SUPEKDREADNOUGHT 


ALL  AROUND  A  BATTLESHIP  49 

alarms  for  collision  or  fire  drill,  clear  ship  for  action,  general  quarters, 
abandon  ship,  or  night  torpedo  defense  drill,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
the  battle-gongs,  sirens,  howlers,  and  other  ear-splitting  devices  would 
send  every  man  to  his  station. 

Quartermasters  and  sigiialmen  are  on  the  In-idge  night  and  day. 
At  sea  the  officers  charged  with  her  handling  drive  her  through  fog 
and  storm,  blue  waters  and  crowded  harbors. 

We  look  aft  from  the  bridge  along  the  superstructure  deck  and, 
high  above  the  pulling  boats,  the  motor  boats  and  steam  launches, 
towers  the  forward  military  mast.  Here  are  lockers  filled  with  fresh 
vegetables  or  boat  gear  and  the  four  wicked  semi-automatic  aircraft 
g-uns  that  the  Navy  calls  "sky  g-uns."  They  fire  3-inch  shells  at  an 
angle  up  to  80  degrees  at  any  Zeppelin  or  other  aircraft  that  may  fly 
above  to  drop  bombs  on  the  crowded  decks.  The  mast  looks  for  all 
the  world  like  a  giant  waste-paper  basket  turned  upside-down,  and  its 
interwoven,  braced  lattice-work  is  really  stout  steel  tubing.  One  lucky 
shot  would  carry  away  the  old-style  mast,  but  the  military  or  fire 
control  mast  will  stand  much  battering  and  still  survive  a  battle.  At 
the  top  of  the  lattice-work  is  a  circular  platform,  where  the  spotters 
and  range  finders  are  stationed  in  battle;  and  high  above  water  are 
the  slender  wireless  aerials.  Signal  yards  jut  out  from  the  mast,  with 
their  halliards  fastened  at  the  bridge.  On  the  mast  are  projections 
supporting  powerful  searchlights  and  the  fire  control  for  defense 
against  torpedo  attack. 

Leave  the  bridge  and  visit  the  deck  below  the  superstructure  and 
you  are  on  the  g-un  deck.  On  this  and  the  berth  deck  below  the  crew 
live.  They  are  divided  by  steel  bulkheads  into  compartments  called 
casemates,  on  most  dreadnoughts,  and  the  men  who  serve  the  gim  in 
that  casemate  sling  their  hammocks,  sea-bags,  and  other  gear  there. 
Mess-call  sounds  as  we  enter  one  of  them  and  down  from  racks  over- 
head come  mess-tables  and  benches.  If  you  could  tarry  until  "ham- 
mocks" you  would  see  these,  also,  slung  overhead  from  two  steel 
hooks. 

Farther  aft,  below  the  quarteitleck,  are  the  officers'  quarters,  a 
separate  suite  for  the  Admiral  and  the  Captain,  and  for  each  officer 
a  room  opening  out  on  the  same  deck  or  the  one  below  and  near  the 
wardroom,  where  the  officers  gather  for  their  meals  and  pass  their 
few  spare  hours.  Nearby  is  a  similar  arrangement  for  the  junior 
officers,  once  called  the  "steerage,"  and  there  are  other  comfortable 
quarters  for  the  warrant   and  petty  officers,   and   reception   rooms, 


50 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


showers  and  baths  for  the  crew.  On  these  decks  there  are  laundries, 
a  barber  shop,  the  crew's  reading  and  reception  rooms,  the  spotless 
sick  bay,  or  hospital,  and  the  operating  room. 

Overhead  a  white  pipe  with  a  band  of  green  and  black  catches 
your  eye,  and  as  you  pass  along  the  decks  you  see  the  same  band  at 
intervals.  It  is  a  salt-water  pipe  and  the  bands  make  it  easy  to  trace 
it  for  leaks  or  repairs.  The  fresh-water  pipe  is  lead-colored,  and  the 
ones  painted  with  yellow  and  black  bands  carry  fresh  air  to  the  decks 
below  the  main  one. 

The  paint  on  these  pipes  is  smooth  and  glistening  but  on  the  steel 


Copyright,  E.  MuUer.  Jr..  \.   Y. 

THE  "PENNSYLVANIA"  STEAMS  UNDER  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE 


51 


52  THE  MAEVEL  BOOK  OF  MIERICAX  SHIPS 

Avails  you  will  often  see  a  rough,  jagged  sort  of  jiaint.  It  is  a  sticky 
paint  in  which  broken  cork  has  been  mixed.  The  cork  paint  keeps  the 
steel  beneath  it  from  "sweating"  and  forming  beads  of  moisture;  it 
also  keeps  the  ammunition  passages  and  the  magazines  at  an  even 
temperature  by  absorbing  their  moistui'e.  In  other  parts  of  the  ship 
great  slabs  of  cork  are  placed  behind  steel  plates  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. 

Of  course  we  want  to  see  the  great  engines  that  drive  this  mighty 
ship  through  the  water  at  twenty-odd  knots,  so  we  turn  down  a  narrow 
steel  passagoM'ay  and  down  a  steel  ladder  to  another  steel  deck.  What 
a  surprise  is  in  store!  You  had  forgotten  that  the  Pennsylvania  is  an 
oil-burner.  There  is  no  roaring  furnace  with  half-naked  stokers  throw- 
ing in  coal,  and  the  racket  of  slice-bars  and  clanging  shovels.  There 
is  no  network  of  flying  machinery,  throbbing  pistons  and  whirling  con- 
trolleis.  There  are  boilers,  gauges,  valves,  and  steampipes,  but  only 
the  steady  roar  of  the  burners  keeping  up  their  flame.  The  turbines 
work  so  silently  that  it  is  hard  to  realize  that  they  can  drive  this  great 
bulk  of  32,000  tons. 

We  are  now  well  below  the  waterline,  but  still  below  us  are  the 
double  bottoms  and  the  bilges  before  the  keel  is  reached.  Here,  between 
the  inner  and  outer  hulls  that  we  call  the  double  bottoms,  are  stored 
the  oil  fuel,  spare  stores  for  men,  guns  and  machinery.  The  handling 
rooms  for  the  turrets  also  are  below  the  waterline,  as  are  the  magazines 
and  the  fire-control  room  and  the  wireless  room.  In  the  center  of  the 
handling  rooms  run  the  elevators  that  hurry  shell  and  powder  to  the 
hungry  breeches  above.    Below  it  are  the  four  21-inch  torpedo  tubes. 

On  all  the  decks  you  pass  men  who  turn  from  their  tasks  to  tling 
a  greeting  to  your  bluejacket  escort,  and  a  smile  for  yourself.  Their 
number  is  based  on  the  men  required  to  tight,  navigate,  keep  up  full 
speed  through  a  battle  no  matter  how  long  it  lasts,  attend  the  wounded, 
clear  away  wreckage,  make  repairs,  tight  fires,  and  keep  the  communica- 
tions working. 

The  Pennsylvania  has  not  only  its  Admiral  with  his  staff,  but  its 
captain,  executive,  gunnery,  navigating,  engineer,  first  lieutenant, 
watch,  medical,  pay  and  marine  officer,  and  most  of  them  have  one  or 
more  assistants,  to  a  total  of  more  than  forty  officers. 

You  come  back  on  deck  sobered  by  the  picture  of  power  you  have 
seen  and  a  better  American  for  the  trij).  Nothing  gives  a  greater 
impression  of  power  and  efficiency  than  a  superdreadnought,  with  its 
massive  armor  and  its  wicked  guns.  It  seems  as  though  such  a  ship 
could  never  be  surpassed;  but  already  we  are  building  and  planning 


ALL  AROUND  A  BATTLESHIP  53 

bigger  and  better  ones,  for  the  life  of  a  battleship  is  only  twenty  years. 
The  life  of  her  great  guns  is  less  than  300  rounds,  but  the  guns  can  be 
relined. 

As  the  years  pass  the  Pennsylvania  must  drop  back  into  the  second 
or  third  line  of  battle  to  give  way  to  her  younger  and  stronger  sisters. 


THE  "Charleston"  is  o\k  di    ovu  largest  protected  cruisers 


THE   QUEEN   OF   THE   SEA 


FASHIONS  in  ships  change  much  like  the  styles  of  dress  on  shore, 
and  the  cruiser  is  no  exception  to  this  rule.  From  a  very  minor 
part  in  the  Fleet  the  cruiser  in  its  latest  form — the  battle  cruiser 
■ — is  now  the  Queen  of  the  Sea,  as  the  superdreadnought  is  the  King  of 
the  Sea.  Largest  and  fastest  of  all  warships,  with  guns  almost  as 
powerful  as  those  of  the  King,  she  is  well  entitled  to  her  crown,  for 
only  in  armor  does  the  King  really  outstrip  her.  In  fact  the  battle 
cruiser  is  a  high-speed  battleship,  and  her  development  from  the  minor 
role  to  her  present  proud  position  is  an  interesting  one. 

Cruisers  began  as  little  fellows,  not  much  larger  than  a  modern 
sea-going  tug,  and  their  only  superiority  over  otlier  ships  then  was 
their  speed.  The  first  ones  were  1,500  tons — hardly  one-twentieth  the 
tonnage  of  the  battle  cruisers  we  are  now  building — and  their  first 
protection  was  of  iron.  They  were  useful  little  craft;  but  the  strides 
made  in  rapid-fire  guns  and  explosive  shells  soon  made  them  useless. 
Steel  armor  of  light  weight  was  added  to  them,  and  they  became  known 
as  protected  cruisers.  Between  1883  and  1886  the  AVhite  Squadron 
was  the  pride  of  the  American  Navy,  and  the  Chicago,  the  Dolphin  and 
the  Boston  are  still  on  the  Navy  list. 

The  guns  scored  again,  and  it  was  France  who  led  the  way  for 

54 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  SEA 


55 


other  nations  by  buildhig  the  first  armored  cruiser,  the  Dupiiy-de- 
Lome,  in  1888.  She  was  of  6,500  tons,  20  knots  speed,  and  witli  her 
heavier  armor  of  4-inch  steel  and  two  7.6-inch  guns  in  turrets  tlie 
Dupuy-de-Lome  was  a  remarlvable  ship  for  that  time. 

All  other  naval  powers  followed  France's  lead,  and  among  the 
ships  built  on  her  lines  by  the  United  States  was  the  famous  Olyinpia, 
Admiral  Dewey's  flagship  at  Manila  Bay. 

The  protected  cruiser  was  now  useless  and  we  were  approaching 
the  day  of  the  battleship.    The  armored  cruiser  was  designed  for  sea 


THE    "CHICAGO"    WAS    ONE    OF   OUR    FIRST   CRUISERS 


scouting  and  coast  patrol,  and  in  that  class  the  United  States  rapidly 
took  the  lead  with  her  four  cruisers  of  the  Montana  type.  Other 
improvements  in  ordnance  and  gunnery  again  outstripped  the  cruiser. 
While  the  Brooklyn  and  the  New  York  held  their  own  with  the  battle- 
ships in  the  great  Santiago  sea  fight,, and  Admiral  Dewey's  cruisers 
humbled  the  Spanish  fleet  at  Manila  Bay,  their  place  in  the  .line  of 
battle  is  over.  We  still  have  several  ranging  from  3,000  to  8,000  tons, 
the  largest  carrying  10-inch  guns  in  two  turrets,  and  they  are  useful 
for  patrol  and  blockade  work  in  war.  In  peace  we  employ  them  in 
Central  American  waters  and  on  the  China  Station,  to  show  the  flag 
and  to  rush  to  the  protection  of  Americans  in  those  troubled  sections, 
for  the  best  of  them  are  still  speedier  than  our  battleships. 


Courtesy  of  ''Scientific  American" 

THE    GERMAN    BATTLE    CRUISER    "  VON    DER   TANN' 


Curl.^!/  „f  ■■.Srl,„lific  Ameriam" 
THE  FAMOUS  GERMAN  BATTLE  CRUISER  "gOEBEN"  ELUDED  THE  BRITISH  FLEET  IN 
THE  MEDITERRANEAN 


56 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  SEA  57 

It  was  Great  Britain  tliat  gave  to  the  sea  its  first  battle  cruiser. 
Where  the  battleship  sacrifices  speed  to  carry  the  greatest  number  of 
powerful  g-uns  and  at  the  same  time  the  heaviest  armor  so  that  she 
can  take  as  well  as  give  punishment  in  a  stand-up  fight,  the  battle 
cruiser  has  as  her  greatest  feature  speed.  The  guns  she  does  carry 
are  as  powerful  as  those  of  the  superdreadnought,  but  only  by  re- 
ducing their  number  and  the  thickness  of  her  armor  is  this  feature 
secured. 

With  her  wonderful  speed  she  can  run  down  and  sink  any  craft  on 
the  sea  except  the  battleship ;  and  when  she  meets  this  grim  fighter  the 
battle  cruiser  can  fight  or  run  as  she  chooses.  Scouts,  destroyers,  and 
submai'ines  are  her  natural  enemies,  but  they  are  also  her  easy  prey. 
With  her  speed  she  can  steam  far  ahead  of  the  main  line  and  find  out 
how  strong  the  enemy  is  and  where  it  is.  After  smashing  his  screen 
of  scouts  she  carries  back  the  news  to  the  main  line  and  joins  it  for 
the  final  fray.  In  the  big  battle  the  battle  cruisers  form  a  fast  wing- 
that  keeps  the  enemy  ships  from  "capping"  or  crossing  the  line  at 
right  angles,  they  protect  its  flanks,  take  their  chances  of  battle,  and, 
if  the  end  is  victory,  pursue  and  harry  crippled  ships.  Their  powerful 
torpedo  battery  helps  make  up  for  the  lack  of  armor. 

Besides  scouting  and  fighting,  her  great  fuel  capacity  and  speed 
make  the  battle  cruiser  an  even  more  useful  ship  than  the  super- 
dreadnought,  for  she  can  raid  an  enemy's  coast  and  destroy  her  com- 
merce. With  the  speed  and  dash  of  a  destroyer  and  her  powerful 
battery,  the  battle  cruiser  is  the  favorite  topic  where  naval  officers 
meet.  Her  cost  is  even  greater  than  that  of  the  superdreadnought 
and  she  is  more  expensive  to  keep  in  commission.  She  has  in  her  speed 
greater  safety  from  attack  by  destroyers  or  submarines  tlian  her  big 
brother  and  she  is  little  inferior  to  him  as  a  fighter.  Because  of  all 
these  things  there  are  many  naval  experts  who  look  upon  her  as  even 
more  valuable  as  our  main  dependence  at  sea. 

Great  Britain,  as  we  have  said,  was  the  first  naval  power  to  build 
the  battle  cruiser.  Close  on  her  heels  came  Germany,  Russia,  and 
Japan ;  but  all  others,  including  the  United  States,  have  no  battle 
cruiser  in  their  line  of  battle.  It  v/as  in  1907  that  the  Indomitable,  the 
first  one,  was  begom.  One  year  later  she  crossed  the  Atlantic  at  a 
speed  of  a  little  more  than  25  miles  an  hour.  The  Inflexible  and  the 
Invincible  followed ;  and  when  the  European  War  came.  Great  Britain 
had  a  squadron  that  proved  of  immense  worth  to  her.  The  famous 
Cat  Squadron,  so-called  because  of  the  Lion  and  the  Tiger,  is  to-day 
the  last  word  in  the  battle  cruiser,  but  in  a  few  years  the  new  American 


THE  ARMORED  CRUISER  " MEMPHIS"  WAS  WRECKED  IN  SANTO  DOMINGO  HARBOR 


THE  CRUISER      MONTANA      IS  A    lOHl'KDn    IKAlM.NCi  sllll' 


58 


Courtesu  of  "  Scientific  An 

THE  BRITISH  BATTLE  CRUISER  "lION"  LOST  IN  THE  GREAT  JUTLAND  BATTLE 


Courtesy  of  "Scientific  Americari" 

A  GERMAN  SHELL  SUNK  THE  "INFLEXIBLE"  OFF  JUTLAND 


Courtesy  of  •'Scientific  American" 

LACK  OF  ARMOR  LOST  THE  "iNVINCIBLe"  TO  GREAT  BRITAIN  AT  JUTLAND 

59 


(]{) 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


battle  cruisers  now 
boino-  built  will  far 
outstrip  the  Cats 
in  every  feature. 

Where  the 
crack  British  bat- 
tle cruisers  have  a 
length  of  720  feet, 
our  Queens  of  the 
Sea  will  be  850 
feet,  or  250  feet 
more  than  the  tow- 
er top  of  the  fa- 
mous Woolworth 
Building  in  New 
York.  The  British 
highest  speed  in 
this  class  is  32.4 
knots  for  the  Prin- 
cess Royal;  ours 
will  slice  through 
the  water  at  35 
knots,  equal  to  more  than  40  miles  an  hour,  a  speed  that  few  trains  keep 
up  for  any  distance  on  land.  With  their  beam  of  97  feet  they  will  be  7 
feet  broader,  and  their  displacement  of  35,000  tons  will  be  greater  than 
any  superdreadnought  afloat  and  5,000  tons  more  than  the  British 
giants.  They  not  only  will  be  able  to  race  away  from  the  British  scouts 
with  news  for  the  Admiral,  but  in  a  fight  with  ships  of  their  class  their 
battery  of  ten  15- 
inch  guns  will  be 
far  more  powerful, 
and  hit  at  longer 
ranges,  than  the 
eight  13.5-inch 
guns  which  are 
now  the  biggest 
carried  by  anj^  for- 
eign battle  cruiser. 
Each  of  them  will 
cost    Uncle    Sam 

$20,000,000.  THE  U.  S.  S.  SCOUT  CRUISER  "  CHESTER' 


SAN  DIEGO      BOWS  ON 


J 


THE  gUEEN  OF  THE  SEA 


61 


Another  improvement  in  our  Queens  will  be  equipment  to  carry, 
launch,  and  operate  hydroplanes,  the  largest  made,  to  fly  far  ahead  of 
them  and  aid  in  scouting.  With  their  seven  funnels,  or  smoke-stacks, 
these  beautiful  lighters  will  look  like  giant  destroyers  and,  like  our 
latest  superdreadnoughts,  they  will  burn  oil  for  fuel.  This  will  be  a 
great  help  in  their  scouting;  for,  instead  of  heavy  plumes  of  smoke  to 
warn  the  enemy  of 
their  approach,  the 
oil  fuel  is  almost 
smokeless. 

We  have  seen 
how  the  cruiser 
gave  way  to  the 
protected,  then  to 
the  armored,  and 
still  again  to  the 
battle  cruiser.  But 
there  is  still  an- 
other cruiser  be- 
sides the  battle 
cruiser  that  mod- 
ern navies  have  added  to  their  lists — the  daring  little  scout  cruiser. 

Their  part  is  to  travel  at  high  speed  to  locate  the  enemy  fleet  in 
time  of  war,  but,  unlike  the  battle  cruisers,  they  are  not  strong  enough 
to  fight  any  other  craft  but  destroyers  and  submarines.  Their  armor 
is  very  light  and  none  of  their  guns  could  do  great  damage  except  to 
the  thin-skinned  destroyers  and  undersea  craft.  We  now  have  three 
scouts,  the  Salem,  Birmingham,  and  Chester,  but  the  ones  being  built 
will  far  eclipse  them  in  every  way.  Although  they  are  as  long  as  the 
average  battleship,  with  their  550  feet,  their  tonnage  is  only  7,100 
- — one-fifth  that  of  the  battle  cruiser.  With  a  beam  of  55  feet, 
the  scouts  will  be  as  lean  as  racehorses,  and  they  can  cover  their  forty 
miles  an  hour.  Their  battery  will  have  eight  6-inch  guns,  tw'o  sky- 
guns,  and  four  torpedo-tubes,  and  the  crew  will  muster  330  men  on 
each  scout.  Like  the  battle  cruisers,  they  will  be  eqiaipped  for  hydro- 
planes too. 

If  the  scouts  should  ever  have  to  prove  their  worth  in  time  of  war 


PUEBLO      WAS  FORMERLY  THE      COLORADO 


THE  QUEEN  OF  THE  SEA  63 

no  other  ships  of  the  Fleet  will  lead  more  exciting  lives;  for,  like  the 
scout  soldier  on  shore,  the  sea  scout  is  always  ready  to  receive  its 
death  blow  to  secure  information  that  will  help  the  main  body  in  the 
deciding  fight. 


Oi 


CopyriglU,  E.  Mutter,  Jr.,  N   Y 


A    iJi:blli(J  \  KK    FLlJliLLA 


VI 


THE    DESTROYER 


HOW  many  readers  know  the  derivation  of  the  name  of  this,  the 
speediest  of  warships? 

The  duties  of  the  destroyer  are  better  known  to-day  than 
several  years  ago,  for  the  great  war  in  Europe  has  riveted  the  attention 
of  some  of  us  upon  the  value  of  a  navy  in  general,  and  the  exhaustive 
published  accounts  of  the  sea  actions  give  more  or  less  complete 
information  of  the  work  of  the  destroyer  and  its  great  value  to  a  fleet. 
But  the  knowledge  that  the  destroyer  is  a  long  black  vessel  with  many 
smoke-stacks  and  great  speed  will  no  longer  satisfy  us;  we  now  want 
to  know  more  about  this  vessel  that  is  so  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
daily  accounts  from  the  war  zone.  We  w^ant  to  know  wherein  it  will  be 
useful  in  war,  the  reason  for  its  express-train  speed,  and  with  what 
weapons  it  is  armed. 

The  term  "destroyer"  is  but  an  abbreviation  from  the  original 
name  given  to  this  type  of  warship — torpedo-boat-destroyer — meaning 
a  destroyer  of  torpedo  boats. 

Many  years  back,  when  the  automobile  torpedo  had  risen  above  an 
experimental  weapon,  a  very  fast  vessel  was  required  to  use  these 

65 


THE  ''gushing"  in  A  SMOOTH  SEA 


Photo  bii  Slebhinf 


THE  "WILKEs"  ON  HER  TRIAL  lU  N 
66 


THE      MORRIS      ON  A  PRACTICE  RUN 


Courtesy  of  "  Fleet  R, 


TACTICAL  EXERCISES 

67 


68 


thp:  marvel  book  of  American  ships 


THE       DUNCAN       MAKIM 


implements  of  de- 
struction; this 
vessel  was  called  a 
torpedo  boat.  In 
the  early  days  the 
torpedo  was  accu- 
r;ite  only  at  short 
rang'o.  The  vessel 
armed  with  torpe- 
does had  to  be  both 
small  and  speedy. 
Due  to  the  short 
range,  it  was  neces- 
sary at  night  to  arrive  within  500  yards  of  a  battleship  or  cruiser  before 
it  could  launch  a  torpedo  with  any  chance  of  a  hit.  The  smaller  the 
vessel,  the  ek^er  it  could  reach  its  target  without  being  discovered. 
After  discovefy,  high  sjjeed  was  required  to  rush  upon  its  big  prey. 
During  this  rush  the  warship  attacked  could  pour  upon  the  torpedo 
boat  a  rain  of  explosive  shells,  the  searchlight  meanwhile  illuminating 
distinctly  the  dark  hull  to  enable  the  gunners  to  aim  accurately. 

Surprise  was 
the  chief  ally  of  the 
torpedo  boat;  on  a 
dark  misty  night,  a 
low  lying  black 
hull,  showing  no 
light,  could  not  be 
seen  until  it  was 
practically  along- 
side, and  then  the 
attacked  vessel 
was  doomed,  for 
there  would  be  no 
time  to  turn  on  a 
searchlight  or  to 
man  the  guns  and 
shoot  before  the 
alert  torpedo  boat 
had  fired  its  torpe- 
does. 

Torpedo  boats 


THE  "NICHOLSON       BOWS  ON 


THE  "cASSIN"  at  REDUCED  SPEED 


> 

Cuurlesy  uj  ■■  Scicnlific  Art 


A  TORPEDO  BOAT  B'LOTILLA 
69 


70  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

armed  witli  torpedoes  and  small  guns  were  built  by  all  the  maritime 
nations;  England,  P^'rance,  and  Japan  especially  placed  great  confi- 
dence in  them  and  constructed  a  large  number  for  the  purpose  of 
attacking  the  battleships  and  cruisers  of  an  enemy. 

The  largest  of  the  torpedo  boats  were  of  about  100  to  150  tons 
displacement;  they  carried  two  or  three  torpedo-tubes  for  firing  tor- 
pedoes and  two  or  more  torpedoes  for  each  tube.  As  a  defense  against 
an  attack  by  the  torpedo  boats  and  picket  boats  of  an  enemy,  they 
carried  in  addition  several  small  guns,  usually  3-  or  6-pounders,  firing 
a  shell  of  that  weight.  Speeds  varied;  the  highest  was  not  over  26 
knots.  These  vessels  were  very  inferior  sea-boats :  in  a  rough  sea 
they  were  very  lively  and  their  decks  were  swept  by  the  waves.  Their 
use  was  limited  to  localities  near  harbors,  and  it  was  thought  that,  in 
having  a  large  number  of  torpedo  boats,  they  could  be  used  to  defend 
our  coast  by  issuing  forth  and  attacking  at  night  a  blockading-  force 
of  enemy  warships  or  a  large  body  of  transports  which  might  be 
attempting  to  land  troops  upon  our  shores. 

There  soon  became  a  feverish  haste  by  all  nations  to  build  these 
terrifying,  little  vessels;  and  after  each  great  power  had  acquired  a 
fleet  of  them,  then  naval  experts  saw  the  necessity  for  a  new  type  of 
warship — a  vessel  fast  enough  to  overhaul  and  destroy  these  delicate 
structures  of  steel,  and  thus  rid  the  big  ships  of  their  nightly  terrors 
of  being  sunk  by  a  torpedo. 

At  first  it  was  the  intention  of  arming  this  new  tyi^e  of  ship,  the 
"torpedo-boat-destroyer,"  with  guns  only,  in  order  to  sink  the  tor- 
pedo boat  by  gun  fire;  then  it  became  evident  that  by  giving  them 
torpedoes  in  addition  to  their  guns  they  could  be  used  also  to  attack 
the  enemy's  battleships  at  night.  Although  much  larger  than  the 
torpedo  boat,  it  was  found  by  experiment  that  on  a  dark  night  the 
destroyer  could  win  its  way  to  dangerous  torpedo  range  before  the  ' 
battleship  could  discover  it;  and  being  of  greater  tonnage,  the  new 
torpedo  vessel  was  in  consequence  more  seaworthy  and  could  be  used 
in  all  weathers  on  the  open  sea,  whereas  the  smaller  type  was  restricted 
to  operations  near  shore. 

Although  the  destroyer  came  into  existence  mainlj^  for  the  purpose 
of  destroying  torpedo  boats,  it  was  evident,  even  at  that  time,  that 
such  a  type  of  vessel  must  be  given  greater  size,  in  order  that  it  could 
venture  farther  away  from  shore  and  withstand  the  destructive  effect 
of  a  gale  at  sea. 

The  first  of  our  destroyers  were  built  just  after  our  war  with 
Spain.     They  displaced  about  450  tons  and  had  a  speed  of  about  28 


t. 


Copyriahl,  B.  Midler.  Jr..  iV.  1'. 

DESTROYERS  ATTACKING  THROUGH  SMOKE  SCREEN 


Courtesy  of  *' Our  Nary" 

A  FLOTILLA  BACK  TO  THE  BASE  FOR  OVERHAUL  AND    UPKEEP 
71 


72  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

knots  an  hour.  Once  having  a  vessel  comparatively  a  fine  sea-boat,  all 
recognized  that  the  tiny  little  torpedo  boats  were  obsolete.  No  more 
were  ever  built.  This  development  of  warships  is  paralleled  in  all 
types.  When  the  increase  in  size  produces  a  nioie  trustworthy  vessel 
the  smaller  ones  soon  become  an  obsolete  type. 

The  range  of  the  torpedo  and  the  searchlight  have  been  important 
factors  in  both  torp'edo  boat  and  destroyer  development. 

When  the  torpedo  first  came  to  notice  as  a  weapon  useful  in  war, 
the  effective  range  was  only  500  yards;  and  this  small  range  did  not 
increase  rapidly  as  the  years  went  on.  There  was  quite  an  interval  of 
time  before  the  thousand-yard  torpedo  became  an  established  fact. 


THE  "PRE.STOn"  at  FULL  SPEED 


Then  the  useful  limit  of  the  searchlight,  the  warship's  mainstay  in  its 
protection  against  the  torpedo,  was  scarcely  more  than  this  distance. 
The  searchlight  was  quickly  improved;  and  no  sooner  had  it  reached 
out  to  2,000  yards  in  efficiently  illuminating  an  attacking  torpedo  boat 
or  destroyer  than  the  torpedo  increased  its  radius  of  action  to  2,500 
yards.  For  a  time  it  looked  as  if  the  searchlight  might  hold  its  own ; 
then  suddenly  through  the  invention  of  the  superheater,  by  which  the 
air  in  the  torpedo  is  heated  in  its  passage  to  the  engine,  the  range  of 
the  twenty-five-hundred-yard  torpedo  became  5,000  yards,  and  the 
searchlight  gasped  and  sputtered,  but  could  not  penetrate  the  night 
farther  than  4,000  yards. 

Torpedoes  are  now'  of  ranges  up  to  10,000  yards.  However,  a 
destroyer  cannot  see  a  battleship  on  a  dark  night  much  farther  than 
4,500  yards,  so  for  night  work  a  long  range  torpedo  is  unnecessary. 
The  long  range  weapons  are  most  useful  in  daytime. 

A  new  searchlight  has  recently  been  invented  and  built  which  will 


THE  DESTROYKR 


73 


be  capable  of  illu- 
minating an  at- 
tacking destroyer 
at  from  five  to  six 
thousands  y  a  r  d  s 
away. 

On  account  of 
the  necessity  for 
very  high  speed, 
the  destroyer 
structure  is  thin ; 
frames  and  plat- 
ings are  made  of  the  automobile  torpedo,  the  weapon  used  by  destroy- 
the   highest   grade  .  ers  and  submarines 

steel    in    order    to 

give  as  great 
strength  as  possi- 
ble with  a  mini- 
mum weight.  The 
underwater  for  m 
is  very  carefully 
d  e  s  i  g  n  e  d.  The 
length  of  the  ves- 
sel is  great  and  its 
beam  narrow.  The 
motive  power  in- 
cludes water-tube 
boilers,  oil-burning 
and  turbine  en- 
gines. The  engines 
revolve  at  very 
high  speed  and  the 
driving  power  usu- 
ally is  distributed 
between  t  h  r  e  e 
shafts  and  propel- 
lers. 

The  ai'inament 

of   a   destroyer   of 

Muita-.  Jr..  x.  y.  the  present  day 

A  TORPEDO  ABOUT  TO  TAKE  THE  WATER  COUSistS     of     f  O  U  r 


74 


THE  DESTROYER  75 

double  torpedo-tubes.  In  each  tube  there  is  a  torpedo,  and  spare  ones 
are  carried  for  each  tube.  The  number  may  be  even  more  greatly 
increased,  for  a  destroyer  without  torpedoes  is  only  half  a  destroyer. 

An  important  use  of  the  destroyer  developed  during  the  present 
war  is  to  hunt  down  and  destroy  submarines.  It  does  this  by  giin 
fire  and  by  ramming.  The  destroyers  recently  built  carry  five  guns 
of  4-incli  caliber,  firing  a  shell  weighing  about  twenty-five  pounds.  The 
battleship  fieet  as  it  moves  through  waters  likely  to  be  infested  with 
enemy  submarines  should  be  surrounded  by  its  destroyers.  This 
important  use  for  this  type  of  vessel  greatly  increases  the  demand  for 
them  in  a  fleet.  As  mine  sweepers,  also,  destroyers  are  useful,  and 
in  clearing  a  channel  for  the  passage  of  a  fleet. 

The  size  of  our  new  destroyers  is  about  1,100  tons.  For  several 
hours  they  can  maintain  a  speed  of  over  30  knots  an  hour. 

The  night  attack  of  a  destroyer  is  the  most  picturesque  duty  and 
requires  the  greatest  amount  of  dash  and  valor  in  the  personnel. 

Destroyers  are  used  tactically  in  groups  to  attack  the  enemy's 
battleships  at  night.  In  war  time  they  will  seek  the  enemy  at  a  reduced 
Sliced  and  after  they  have  located  their  quarry  will  attack  at  their 
highest  speed.  Tearing  through  the  water  at  the  rate  of  fifty  feet  a 
second,  they  will  fling  themselves  upon  the  surprised  battleship.  They 
will  approach  bows  on,  displaying  to  the  enemy's  g-unners  a  black 
wedge  twenty-five  feet  wide  at  its  top,  and  traveling  so  rapidly  toward 
the  gun  that  accurate  hitting  would  be  nearly  impossible  even  if  the 
searchlight  could  effectively  give  sufficient  illumination.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  two  miles  they  will  fire  four  torpedoes  each  at  a  battleship  of 
the  enemy.  Each  torpedo  carries  a  war  head  charge  of  guncotton  of 
250  pounds,  and  its  speed  will  be  30  knots.  It  will  run  15  feet  below 
the  surface  and  if  it  hits  the  underwater  plating  will  cause  damage 
sufficient  either  to  sink  or  totally  to  disable  the  battleship. 

The  accuracy  of  the  modern  torpedo  is  almost  beyond  compre- 
hension. Torpedo  after  torpedo  has  been  fired  at  a  target,  a  small 
flag,  while  the  destroyer  is  steaming  at  thirty  knots,  and  a  miss  of 
more  than  a  few  yards  seldom  occurs. 

The  torpedo  is  a  very  expensive  weapon,  each  costing  from  $5,000 
to  $8,000.  It  may  be  seen  that  a  navy  could  hardly  afford  to  expend 
in  such  wholesale  manner  a  vast  number  of  torpedoes  for  the  purpose 
of  drilling  the  men  who  fire  them  in  battle.  That  the  men  must  be 
trained  and  the  torpedo  run  is  quite  necessary,  and  to  do  this  without 
loss  is  an  everyday  occurrence  on  board  a  destroyer.  Instead  of  the 
war  head  containing  high  explosives,  a  practice  head  similar  in  weight 


76 


THE  MAEVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


and  size  is  fitted.  Secured  within  a  cavity  in  this  head  is  a  calcium 
phosphide  torch.  Now  we  can  fire  the  torpedo  exactly  as  would  be 
done  in  war,  and  the  torpedo  after  expending  all  its  air  will  rise  to  the 
surface  of  the  water  and  there  float,  giving  off  smoke  in  the  daytime 
and  a  bright  calcium  flame  at  night,  to  show  the  destroyer  where  it  is 
located. 

The  process  of  getting  a  torpedo  ready  for  firing  is  to  torpedo 
men  an  everyday  occurrence.  They  think  nothing  of  it.  The  torjjedo 
air  flask  is  charged  with  air  at  2,250  pounds  pressure.    This  air  leads 

through  a  stop 
valve  to  the  engine 
of  the  t  o  r  p  e  d  o. 
This  engine  is  ca- 
pal)le  of  making  a 
great  number  of 
I'evolutions  per 
m  i  n  u  t  e,  driving- 
two  propeller 
shafts  and  giving 
to  the  torpedo  a 
high  speed. 

After  all  the 
adjustments  have 
been  made — there 
are  m  a  n  y,  a  n  d 
each  is  vital  to  the 
success  of  the  run 
• — the  torpedo  is  loaded  into  the  tube  and  the  tube  door  closed  upon  it. 
Then  a  pow^der  charge  is  inserted  in  a  receptacle  and  the  firing  mech- 
anism cocked  ready  for  ejecting  the  torpedo  from  the  tube  into  the 
water.    The  tube  now  is  trained  in  the  true  direction  to  fire. 

The  torpedo  is  ready  for  its  run ;  the  pointer  in  his  seat  on  top  of 
the  tube  is  eager  to  train  on  the  target  when  it  becomes  visible.  The 
destroyer  at  full  speed  steams  to  the  attack.  At  several  thousand 
yards  from  the  target  the  destroyer  turns  sharply,  bringing  its  broad- 
side toward  the  target.  The  gun  pointer  quickly  aims,  and  when  his 
sight  is  on,  pushes  his  key. 

The  powder  impulse  charge  explodes,  a  pressure  of  about  fifty 
pounds  per  square  inch  is  put  upon  the  rear  end  of  the  torpedo,  which 
forces  it  through  the  open  end  of  the  tube  at  a  rate  of  about  thirty-five 
feet  per  second.    As  it  leaves  the  tube  the  starting  valve  is  opened  and 


Courtesy  of  "  Our  Nnry" 

TORPEDOES  RECOVERED  AFTER  PRACTICE  RUN 


THE  DESTROYER  77 

the  engine  begins  to  turn  over.  When  the  torpedo  takes  to  the  water 
in  a  long  flat  dive  the  throttle  automatically  opens  wide  and  at  a  speed 
of  from  27  to  35  knots  the  torpedo  starts  truly  in  the  direction  fired. 
To  keep  the  direction  true  a  gyroscopic  steering  gear  is  installed  wliicli 
prevents  a  deviation  from  the  straight  path. 

When  the  torpedo  has  ended  its  run  a  thin  curl  of  wliite  smoke 
can  be  seen  in  the  watei-.  The  destroyer  goes  near  and  lowers  a  boat, 
which  pulls  for  the  torpedo  so  easily  discerned  by  the  smoke  of  the 
phosphide  of  calcium  which  produces  the  paradoxical  phenomenon  of 
burning  on  water.  The  boat  secures  its  lines  to  the  torpedo  and  pulls 
back  to  the  ship,  hoisting  it  aboard  to  get  it  ready  for  another  shot. 

The  destroyer  not  only  must  train  its  crew  to  fire  torjjedoes;  there 
are  other  important  duties  which  must  be  accomplished  with  the  utmost 
accuracy. 

The  destroyer  is  an  engine — or,  rather,  a  machine — from  stem  to 
stern  and  requires  the  most  expert  skill,  because  each  part  of  the  vessel 
and  each  piece  of  machinery  has  been  reduced  to  a  minimum  weight  in 
order  that  high  speed  may  be  reached.  The  fire  room  and  the  engi- 
neer's force  must  be  expert  in  making  steam  quickly  and  in  running 
the  turbines  with  safety  at  the  highest  speeds  with  but  an  instant's 
notice.  Then  the  crew  must  be  trained  to  shoot  the  guns  with  accuracy. 
This  is  quite  a  difficult  task,  owing  to  the  very  lively  gun  platform 
furnished  by  the  vessel.  It  rolls  deeply  and  quickly  and  expertness  in 
gunnery  is  therefore  a  real  necessity. 

The  attack  of  the  destroyer  upon  the  enemy  battleship  fleet  in  the 
daytime  is  an  important  tactical  achievement.  To  make  its  attack  the 
destroyer  flotillas  use  their  high  speed  to  gain  an  advantageous  posi- 
tion on  the  bows  of  their  enemy's  fleet  and  hover  there  until  their  own 
fleet  is  engaged  in  a  gun  duel  with  the  enemy.  The  destroyer  selects 
the  bow  of  the  enemy  fleet  for  the  very  obvious  reason  that  the  torpedo 
will  approach  its  target  in  less  time  if  the  target  comes  to  meet  it  and 
will  reach  farther.  If  a  torpedo  with  a  range  of  5,000  yards  is  fired 
from  ahead  of  a  battleship  steaming  at  20  knots,  the  destroyer  that 
fires  it  can  be  at  the  instant  of  fii'ing  about  8,000  yards  away  and  the 
apparent  speed  of  the  torpedo  will  be  50  knots  an  hour — the  sum  of 
torpedo  and  target's  speed.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  torpedo  is  fired 
from  astern,  the  destroyer  must  come  in  to  a  distance  of  about  1,700 
yards  from  the  target. 

The  destroyer  has  done  very  little  in  the  day  actions  so  far  dui-ing 
the  European  War.  However,  the  accounts  received  on  this  side  are 
not  accurate  enough  to  decide  as  to  the  value  of  this  type  for  day 


78 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


attack.  If,  during  an  engagement  between  the  two  battlesliip  fleets,  a 
well-timed  destroyer  attack  is  made  and  in  consequence  the  enemy  fleet 
is  thrown  into  disorder,  great  results  thus  may  be  attained  even  with- 
out a  single  torpedo  having  struck  a  battleship. 

The  day  duty  of  the  destroyer  is  to  guard  the  battleship  fleet  from 
submarines  and  to  take  part  in  the  day  action. 

Tlie  night  duty  is  twofold:  first,  to  guard  the  big  vessel  at  night 


Courtesy  of  "Rcienit fir    \ 


against  hostile  raids  of  these  night  riders;  second,  to  go  out  on  similar 
raids  against  the  enemy's  battleships.  If  a  battle  fleet  is  plentifully 
supplied  with  these  small  vessels  one-half  can  be  kept  on  guard  while 
the  others,  by  attacking  the  enemy,  make  it  imperative  for  him  to  hold 
his  own  destroyers  with  him. 

Who  has  not  gazed  with  pride  on  the  huge  gray  hull  of  a  battle- 
ship? We  have  wondered  at  its  mighty  size.  The  destructive  power 
of  its  guns,  we  are  told,  is  more  serious  than  an  earthquake  and  can 
leave  ruin  in  its  path  wor.se  than  the  swiftest  cyclone,  and  these  at  dis- 
tances where  the  dreadnought  appears  only-  a  speck  on  the  horizon. 
That  anything  could  daunt  this  impregiiable  floating  fortress,  could 
cause  it  to  stop  even  for  breath  in  its  juggernaut  way,  seems  absurd; 


THE  DESTROYER  79 

yet  the  destroyer  spells  to  the  mountain  of  strength  a  terror  which  is 
too  important  to  overlook,  too  strong  to  refuse  to  consider. 

The  destroyer  is  a  nerve  tonic  to  the  personnel  of  the  big  ships 
and  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  small  types  of  warships.  An 
unknown  danger  is  always  a  difficult  one  to  become  accustomed  to,  and 
the  attack  fi'om  a  destroyer  flotilla  upon  a  fleet  inadequately  guarded 
is  a  terror  which  every  sailor  dreads. 

The  destroyer  terror,  like  the  noxious  vapor  from  a  looisonous 
swamp,  is  ever  in  the  night  air.  As  the  sun  drops  into  the  sea,  and 
while  the  moon  is  yet  beneath  the  horizon,  the  battleships  lose  their 
air  of  uncon(|uerable  majesty  and  wish  to  shrink  unseen  into  the  gloom; 
to  be  lost  from  all  eyes  until  the  night  has  vanished  and  the  sun  again 
rears  its  head,  or  until  the  moon  comes  to  dispel  the  shadows  in  which 
the  destroyer  is  hiding,  ever  ready  to  issue  forth,  unseen,  unheralded, 
and  unwelcome,  and  rush  down  upon  its  blind  prey. 

In  time  of  peace  the  destroyer  has  a  hard  time  to  maintain  its  mil- 
itary self-respect.  Being  of  high  speed,  it  is  a  very  convenient  vessel 
to  do  all  manner  of  odd  missions  for  the  battleships — from  carrying 
marketing  to  playing  "messenger  boy."  That  these  duties  are  not 
legitimate  every  one  knows,  but  in  time  of  jieace  the  battleships  do  not 
need  guarding  and  the  destroyer  is  "always  in  the  way."  Some  work 
must  be  made  for  her.  Howevei',  Avhen  war  comes  and  the  first  night 
shuts  down,  it  will  be  "Please  walk  in  front.  Sir"  to  the  inadequate 
number  of  destroyers  so  far  commissioned  to  protect  our  battleship 
fleet. 

Commander  Yates  Stirling.  Jr. 


THE  GUNBOAT      YORKTOWN 


VII 


THE  POLICEMAN  OF   THE   SEVEN  SEAS 


THE  beat  patrolled  by  the  Policeman  of  the  Seven  Seas  is  world- 
wide. Xo  matter  how  obscure  the  corner  in  which  American 
citizens  or  their  property  is  threatened  by  a  mob,  an  American 
gunboat  is  sure  to  poke  its  nose  into  the  nearest  port,  swing  her  guns 
to  cover  the  foreign  quarters,  send  her  landing  party  ashore  with  rifles 
and  machine-guns,  ready  to  stay  there  until  jjeace  reigns  again.  Their 
bulging  gun  sponsons  and  stacks  that  tower  above,  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  their  size,  are  as  familiar  a  sight  to  the  out-of-the-way  ports  as 
the  policeman  who  patrols  the  block  in  which  you  live. 

Many  of  these  spots  are  so  far  inhnul,  or  their  waters  so  shallow, 
that  the  big  ships  must  lie  miles  out  and  send  in  boat  crews ;  so  this 
part  of  the  Fleet's  duty,  the  protection  of  our  interests  in  any  part  of 
the  world,  has  for  years  been  assigned  to  our  gunboats.  The  State 
Department  has  a  real  affection  for  the  homely  little  chaps,  for  our 
diplomats  and  consuls  have  found  them  a  faithful  and  trusty  ally. 

There  is  no  ship's  ci-ew  that  leads  so  adventurous  a  life  as  that 
followed  by  those  of  the  gunboat.  Their  ship  is  busy  surveying  off  the 
Cuban  coast  when  the  wireless  awakens  to  life  as  a  radio  comes  in.  A 
disturbance  has  broken  out  in  a  Central  American  port  and  the  Amer- 


THE  "DLIiLuLE       Willi    1 1  I , li    I'OWERING  STACKS 


Courtesy  of  "Our  Navy" 


THE      ANNAPOLIS      RIDING  OUT  A  GALE 


THE  "ANNArOLIs"  IN  SAMOAN  WATERS 

82 


THE  POLICEMAN  OF  THE  SEV^EN  SEAS 


ican  Consul  lias  appealed  to  Washington  for  a  warship.  The  cornet 
goes  whipping  up  aloft  and  a  one-pounder  barks  out  the  call  for  all 
boats  to  make  their  way  back  to  the  gunboat.  The  boat  falls  sing  as 
the  boats  are  hooked  on  and  hoisted  in,  and  away  steams  the  gunboat 
on  her  policeman  duty,  leaving  the  signal  survey  flags  flying  in  the 
breeze. 

She  makes  the  unruly  i^ort  just  in  time  to  land  a  boat's  crew  of 
bluejackets  and  marines,  ready  for  any  emergency.  The  boat  returns, 
and  with  it  the  gold  from  an  American  bank  that  has  been  threatened 
by  a  raid  from  revolutionists.  Up  anchor  and  down  the  coast  to  a 
secluded  bay,  where  an  ex-President  boards  her  to  seek  an  asylum 
from  the  firing  squad  or  jail  that  awaits  him  should  the  revolutionists 
win  the  little  war. 

Sometimes  the  radio  calls  her  to  back  up  a  customs  officer  in  Haiti 
or  Santo  Domingo  in  his  work  of  putting  down  smuggling.  Or  it  may 
be  to  carry  supplies  to  a  battalion  of  marines  who  are  holding  a  port 
to  which  no  regular  liners  ply,  or  to  land  them  for  the  seizure  of  some 
town  where  anarchy  has  broken  out  as  a  result  of  constant  revolutions. 

On  the  Asiatic  Station,  where  the  revolutions  in  China  often  put 
in  danger  the  lives  of  all  Americans  and  Europeans,  the  gunboat  plays 
a  great  part,  and  has  done  so  for  generations.  With  her  shallow  draft 
she  can  reach  points  far  up  the  rivers  that  empty  into  the  sea.  She  has 
proved  a  needy  refuge  for 
missionaries  of  every  na- 
tion and  religion,  and  a 
rallying-point  for  all  for- 
eigiiers  who  had  given  up 
hope  of  aid  from  the  out- 
side world. 

The  majority  of  our 
gimboats  are  old  one.s, 
grown  venerable  in  the 
picturesque  service  de- 
manded of  them.  Many 
of  those  now  carried  on 
the  Navy  list  as  gunboats 
are  of  little  value  for 
these  demands.  They  have 
been  assigned  to  duty  with  the  naval  militia  on  both  coasts  and  on 
the  Great  Lakes,  and  to  other  duties  as  station  or  school  ships.  When 
the  Mexican  troubles  called  for  blockade  duty  or  the  hurrying  of  ships 


THE  GUNBOAT  LANDS  A  FORCE  IN  THE  TROPICS 


84 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Courtesy  of  "Our  Navy" 


THE  QUARTERDKCK  OF  THE  U.  S.  S.      WILMINGTON 


to  tlu'cateiied  quarters,  it  was  neccssarj-  at  times  to  take  cruisers 
and  destroyers  away  from  their  regular  duties  to  do  the  worlv  of  gun- 
boats. To  remedy  tliis  situation  we  are  now  building  more  modern 
gunboats,  which  will  be  larger  and  faster  than  the  Sacramento,  now 
the  largest  in  the  American  Xavy.  They  will  be  designed  for  long 
service  in  the  troj^ics,  where  ships'  hulls  foul  more  quickly  and  their 
equipment  deteriorates  faster  than  in  the  waters  of  a  moderate  climate. 

The  draft  of  gunboats  is  an  important  feature,  for  too  much  defeats 
their  usefulness  for  river  work.  When  we  built  two  of  them  at  the 
Mare  Island  Navy  Yard  a  few  years  ago  especially  for  work  up  the 
Yangste  River  in  China — a  hotbed  of  revolutionary  outbreaks  and  of 
demonstrations  against  foreigners  residing  in  China — the  Palos  and 
Monocacy  were  designed  to  draw  but  29  inches.  They  were  built  in 
sections,  transported  to  Hong  Kong,  and  there  assembled  for  their 
work  up  the  Yangste.  With  a  displacement  of  but  190  tons  and  this 
shallow  draft,  the  Falos  and  the  Monocacy,  small  as  they  are,  are 
splendidly  fitted  for  police  work  under  the  American  flag. 

Two  of  our  most  famous  gunboats  won  their  laurels  in  the  East. 
The  old  side-wheeler  Monocacy,  which  has  handed  down  her  Indian 
name  to  her  Yangste  successor,  was  for  years  one  of  the  most  familiar 
sights  in  Chinese  waters.     She  buino<l  wood,  and  was  unwieldy  as  a 


THE  POLICEMAN  OF  THE  SEVEN  SEAS 


85 


ferryboat,  but  did  yeoman  service  even  as  late  as  the  Boxer  troubles 
in  1900. 

The  Petrel,  one  of  Admiral  Dewey's  famous  squadron  at  the 
Battle  of  Manila  Bay,  is  now  used  as  a  station  ship  in  Cuban  waters. 
The  Callao,  Don  Juan  de  Austria,  Elcano,  Isla  de  Luzon,  Pampanga, 
Qulros,  Sandoval,  Samar,  and  the  Villalohos  once  flew  the  flag  of  Spain, 
for  they  were  captured  from  the  Spaniards  at  Santiago  or  Manila  Bay. 
The  Villalobos  proved  too  much  of  a  name  for  Yankee  tars,  so  they 
have  rechristened  her  the  "Village  Hobo." 

The  latest  of  our  Policemen  of  the  Seas  will  carry  as  their  arma- 
ment three  4-inch,  two  3-pounders,  two  1-pounders,  four  Colt  machine 
guns,  and  two  3-inch  field  pieces  for  landing  parties. 

Because  of  their  small  size  none  of  our  gunboats  carries  more 
than  150  men. 

Though  seaworthy,  they  are  great  rollers  in  a  sea-way;  but  to 
make  up  for  that  discomfort,  the  men  who  make  their  homes  for  a 
cruise  on  a  gunboat  do  not  lack  for  excitement  and  variety  of  duty. 
They  penetrate  into  many  strange  and  interesting  ports  which  the 
Fleet  never  makes,  and  they  bring  home  tales  that  are  retold  in  the 
Fleet  with  envy. 


WILMINGTON      IN  A  TYPHOON 


Cupyng':!  till  llitr.nl  I'ub    Ck 

A  GIANT  SIDE-WHEEL  PASSENGER  STEAMER  ON  THE  GREAT  LAKES 


VIII 
THE   LINER   IS    A   LADY 

IT  is  but  little  more  than  a  full  century  since  the  first  steam- 
driven    craft,    Fulton's    little    t'leniioitf,   churned    the    waters    of 

the  Hudson.  In  that  century  steamships  have  girdled  the  globe 
and  made  it  a  golden  era.  Within  their  wooden,  iron,  or  steel  hulls 
they  have  housed  every  great  step  that  science  has  made  in  tliat 
century;  and  Americans  have  played  their  part  with  the  other  nations. 
Eleven  years  after  the  Clermont  had  proved  the  value  of  steam  as 
a  propulsion  for  vessels  the  first  steamship  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and 
at  her  tatf  rail  flew  the.  American  flag.  Wealthy  citizens  of  Savannah 
built  the  side-wheeler  Savannah,  and  in  1818  she  crossed  from  Savan- 
nah to  Liverpool  in  twenty  days. 

Paddle  wheels  gave  way  to  the  screw  propeller  in  1S50,  just  two 
years  after  the  United  States  had  begun  to  compete  with  Great  Brit- 
ain for  the  Atlantic  steamship  trade.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the 
City  of  Washington  and  the  Britannia,  of  the  Cunard  Line,  raced 
from  New  York  on  the  same  day,  amid  scenes  of  great  excitement. 
The  Britannia  made  Liverpool  two  days  before  the  Citi/  of  ]Vas]ii)if/- 
ton  reached  Southampton,  and  that  two-day  margin  chilled  further, 

86 


Till;     Aljl    riAMA      11i1m;i1-.1    l.iji.'J 


THE  LINER  IS  A  LADY 


87 


enterprise  until  the  Collins  Line,  founded  in  1850,  was  aided  by  a 
yearly  subsidy  of  nearly  $1,000,000.  With  the  Arctic,  Atlantic,  Baltic, 
and  Pacific — fleet  ships  for  those  days — the  new  line  swept  the  sea  as 
the  American  clipper  ships  had,  for  they  were  too  speedy  for  the 
Cunarders,  then  the  pick  of  British  liners.  A  series  of  disaster  befell 
the  Collins  Line  after  four  years  of  supremacy.  First  the  Arctic  was 
lost  in  a  collision  at  sea.  Six  months  later  the  Pacific  sailed  from  port 
and  was  never  heard  from  again.     In  the  face  of  these  heavy  losses, 


TIIIO   HILL  OK  A  .M(11)EK.\   LIM'IK  A,\l)  BANANA  CARRIER 


in  which  many  lives  were  saci-ificed,  the  Government  withdrew  its 
subsidy.  In  1858  the  Collins  Line  became  only  a  memory,  long  since 
forgotten,  of  its  proud  position  on 'the  sea. 

( )nce  again  the  Cunarders  ruled  the  waves,  and  then  followed  the 
thrilling  race  for  steamships  of  greater  speed  and  greater  tonnage, 
in  which  Great  Britain  and  Germany  were  the  rivals.  A  new  ocean 
greyhound  would  be  laid  down  on  the  Clyde,  only  to  be  eclipsed  by 
a  product  of  the  German  yards.  A  few  years  later  its  title  would  be 
wrested  away.  One  German  leviathan  that  failed  to  show  the  speed 
contracted  for  lay  idle  at  the  Hamburg  docks  for  fifteen  years  before 


88  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

she  took  a  liunible  place  in  the  overseas  competition.  When  the  Euro- 
pean War  began  in  1914,  many  of  the  fastest  and  biggest  German 
liners  were  held  by  their  owners  in  neutral  ports  to  save  them  from 
capture  on  the  higli  seas,  and  the  best  of  the  British  greyhounds  were 
converted  into  auxiliary  cruisers  and  transports. 

When  the  war  broke,  the  climax  in  ocean  liners  had  almost  been 
reached  by  Germany  in  the  Vaterland.  She  was  lying  at  the  Hamburg- 
American  docks  in  Hoboken,  and  there  she  was  held.  The  thousand- 
foot  ship  had  long  been  the  vision  of  ship-builders,  and  the  Vaterland 
came  close  to  that  vision.  She  was  but  fifty  feet  short  of  it  in  length, 
with  the  tremendous  tonnage  of  58,000,  and  carried  a  crew  of  1,200 
men  and  women  to  care  for  the  4,100  cabin  and  steerage  passengers 
for  which  she  was  designed.  In  toimage  she  trebled  the  biggest  steam- 
ship of  the  decade  before,  was  half  again  as  long,  and  raced  through 
the  sea  at  a  speed  of  more  than  23  knots. 

The  dream  of  the  ship-builders  will  not  be  in  vain.  Channels, 
locks,  and  piers  are  ready  for  the  thousand-foot  ship.  Coal-burning 
greyhoimds  are  being  supplanted  by  oil-fuel  burners,  and  internal 
combustion  or  oil  engines  are  multiplying.  It  is  very  likely  that  the 
growing  use  of  oil  will  revolutionize  ship  structures  so  far  as  motive 
power  is  concerned;  and  the  additional  cargo  and  passenger  space 
thus  saved  will  so  add  to  the  money-earning  capacity  of  the  liner  that 
the  thousand-foot  ship  will  no  longer  be  held  back  by  reason  of 
expense. 

As  the  size  of  the  ships  and  their  speed  advanced  year  after  yeai", 
the  evils  of  excessive  vibration,  with  discomfort  to  passengers  and 
strains  to  the  hull,  also  grew.  The  modern  turbine  was  evolved  in 
the  tight  to  overcome  the  vibration  and  to  increase  economy  of  fuel 
consumption  while  running  at  high  speeds. 

The  Vaterland  has  quadruple  turbine  engines,  driving  four  pro- 
pellers that  convert  the  energy  into  great  speed.  The  fastest,  how- 
ever, of  the  ocean  liners  is  the  Mauretania,  of  the  Cunard  Line,  with 
her  record  of  26->4  knots,  or  nearlj'  31  miles  an  hour. 

The  great  liners  are  equipped  with  every  form  of  luxury  that  is 
possible  at  sea.  There  is  the  wireless  to  bring  them  the  news  of  the 
world  as  well  as  to  add  to  the  safety  of  passengers.  The  larders  are 
stocked  with  every  delicacy.  Each  has  its  refrigerating  and  electric 
plants,  telephone  system,  cafe,  grill,  private  dining-rooms,  and  con- 
servatory. 

For  recreation  the  passenger  can  turn  from  the  games  of  ship- 
board life  to  a  well-stocked  library,  the  swinnning-pool  or  the  gyrana- 


THE  LINER  IS  A  LADY 


89 


sium.     Every  want  may  be  satisfied  by  a  system  rivaled  only  by  the 
best  of  hotels.    The  modern  liner  is  indeed  a  floating  palace. 

Because  our  laws  do  not  foster  shipping  as  do  those  of  foreign 
countries,  and  because  of  higher  building  and  operating  costs  and 
larger  crews,  we  have  held  our  own  only  on  the  Great  Lakes.  Our 
only  transatlantic  steamship  line,  the  American  Line,  has  entered  the 
race  with  the  building  of  four  turbine  ships  of  32,000  tons,  to  show  a 
speed  of  at  least  26  knots. 
When  finished  they  not 
only  will  figure  materially 
in  the  overseas  passenger 
trade,  but  they  will  be 
valuable  as  auxiliary 
cruisers  and  in  the  trans- 
porting of  troops  in  war 
times. 

The  outbreak  of  the 
European  War,  with  its 
dangers  to  the  liners  fly- 
ing the  flags  of  the  fight- 
ing nations,  proved  a  boon 
to  the  eight  ships  of  the 
American  Line  that  sailed 
from  New  York  and  Phil- 
adelphia for  Liverpool 
and  Queenstown  in  the 
first  two  years  and  a  half 
of  that  struggle.  Savan- 
nah, the  home  of  the  first 
ocean  steamship,  is  now 
the  home  of  the  Savaimah 
Line,  and  that  line  has  on 
the  stocks  two  10,000-ton  ships  destined  to  take  their  part  in  the  trans- 
atlantic routes,  renewing  the  old  traditions  of  the  Georgian  city. 
With  the  beginning  of  the  great  war  its  liners  carried  cargo  to  Euro- 
pean ports  and  as  far  east  as  India,  making  the  opening  wedge  for 
the  wider  field  of  overseas  sailings  in  both  the  passenger  and  freight 
service. 

The  American  tendency  is  toward  this  combination  of  passen- 
gers and  freight.  If  somewhat  slower  than  the  ships  designed  pri- 
marily for  hurrying  passengers  across  sea  at  the  highest  possible 


M 

i  h 

,11 

1"- 

1  *^ 

[  i 

\ 

' 

l^^k^^ 

M     |i 

)/ 

^^^^■^ 

II  i 

™HBpi^^l 

i 

MH^H.^ 

i^^^^K 

I^H^Hk&^^^i^ 

B^^SI 

THE  UNITED  FRUIT  LINER  "  PASTORES  "  READY  FOR 
LAUNCHING 


90 


THE  :\[AKVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERIC^AN  SHIPS 


THE      PASTORES      JOINS  THE  GREAT  WHITE  FLEET 


speed,  this  type  is 
not  lacking  in  lux- 
ury. The  great 
conflict,  which  has 
made  such  an  im- 
pression on  the 
development  of 
American  ship- 
ping, m  a  d  e  de- 
servedly popular 
the  winter  cruises 
to  the  West  Indies 
and  Central  Amer- 
ica. There  is  a 
splendid  fleet  fly- 
ing the    American 

flag  on  these  historic  routes  that  once  were  traveled  only  by  warring 

frigates,  buccaneers  and  the  adventurers  of  the  Old  World.       Sea 

fights,  piracy,  and  filibustering  were  the  i)rincipal  industries  of  these 

waters  for  centuries,  until  the  possibilities  of  great  banana  planta- 
tions and  the  cultivation  of  sugar-cane  in  the  countries  bordering  the 

Caribbean 

tempted  Amer- 

i  c  a  n      me  r- 

chants.      The 

Great   White 

Fleet,    of    the 

United   Fruit 

Company,    was 

the   pioneer    in 

this  trad  e. 

From    a    ]n'ac- 

tically    unused 

fringe      of 

islands     that 

rest    in    1)  1  u  e 

tropical  waters, 

we   have    come 

to  know  them  as 

the    American 

Mediterranean.  the  promenade  deik  of  a.\  ameuicax  liner 


92 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


On  the  white  liners  of  this  fleet  the  refrigerating  apparatus 
guards  the  preservation  of  the  cargo  of  bananas  with  a  temperature 
of  53  degrees.  The  fortunate  passenger  has  but  to  pull  a  slide  over- 
head to  enjoy  its  cooling  draught  on  a  warm  day  at  sea  or  in  port. 

There  could  be  no 

■""o-v-««*^l^  '**^^  Wf     more  ideal  way  to 

"\         ~^^J^^^  ^^^^     escape    the    rigors 

\  4Nif;  ^ff^  J     ^^  ^  northern  win- 

ter than  on  one  of 
these  staunch  and 
luxurious  ships. 
Besides  its  regular 
runs  to  the  ports 
of  Cuba,  Panama, 
Costa  Rica,  Guate- 
mala, Honduras, 
and  to  the  main- 
land of  Colombia, 
the  Great  White 
Fleet  runs  its  lin- 
ers on  special 
cruises  in  the 
American  Mediter- 
ranean. 

Another  Amer- 
ican steamship 
companj^  the  At- 
lantic, Gulf,  and 
West  Indies, known 
to  shi))i)ing  men  as 
the  AGWI,  oper- 
ates four  modorn- 
ly  equipped  lines 
in  the  Caribbean. 
The  Ward  Line  runs  to  the  Bahamas,  Mexico,  and  Cuba.  The  Clyde 
liners  touch  at  South  Carolina,  Florida,  and  Santo  Domingo.  The 
New  York  and  Porto  Rico  Company  runs  to  the  picturesque  ports  of 
Porto  Rico ;  and  the  Mallory  ships  cruise  from  New  York  to  the  waters 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  Munson  Line  combines  a  passenger  and 
freight  service  to  Cuban  points ;  and  the  Red  D  steamships  run  to  San 
Juan,  the  capital  of  Porto  Rico;  to  the  fascinating  Dutch  island  of 


THE  WIKELESS  ROOM  OF  THE  S.S.       P.-VSTORES 


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THE    PRINCIPAL    STEAMSHIP    LINES 


THE  LINER  IS  A  LADY 


93 


Curasao,  and  to  ports  of  Venezuela  on  the  South  American  coast. 

There  are  numberless  steamship  lines  which  venture  well  out  to 
sea  on  coastwise  trips  that  range  from  Key  West  or  New  Orleans 
on  the  south  to  Nova  Scotia  and  Newfoundland  on  the  north.  The 
number  that  ply  our  inland  waters  plays  no  small  part,  either,  in  their 
equipment  or  the  volume  of  their  traffic. 

Out  on  the  Pacific  Coast  we  first  figured  in  what  bade  fair  to  be  a 
winning  race  with  other  nations  for  the  cream  of  the  Pacific  passen- 


-  -"  -■-  - 

1 

VHB^^    1 

|fev->            -^ 

kS 

U3I 

i 

^Ifei^i^l 

tm 

iw 

THE  NAVY  FURNISHES  GUNS  AND  CREWS  FOR  THEIR  DEFENSE   AGAINST   U-BOATS 

ger  trade.  James  J.  Hill,  the  railroad  king,  built  the  Minnesota  and 
the  Dakota,  splendid  craft.  Unable  to  survive  the  competition  of  the 
subsidized  Japanese  lines,  with  their  lower  operating  expenses,  the 
two  fine  ships  met  with  failure.  Other  ventures  thrived  for  a  time, 
only  to  succumb  to  like  handicaps.  In  the  coastwise  trade  from 
Alaska  on  the  north  to  Mexico  and  Panama  on  the  south,  American 
lines,  however,  have  built  up  a  great  volume  of  passenger  and  freight 
traffic. 

It  is  gratifying  to  turn  to  the  Great  Lakes  for  evidence  of  solid 
progress  in  its  passenger  steamship  service.  Here  we  find  the  largest 
fresh-water  steamships  in  the  world.  In  speed  and  accommodation 
their  deep-sea  rivals  have  but  little  to  offer  beyond  them.     The  See- 


94  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

and-Bee  and  the  City  of  Detroit  111  lack  iioiio  of  the  modern  equip- 
ment for  safety,  comfort,  or  reci'eation  that  the  ocean  greyhounds 
boast.  When  the  American  Shipbuilding  Company  of  Cleveland 
launched  the  See-and-Bee  she  was  the  largest  side-wheel  steamship  in 
the  world;  and  she  still  holds  that  unique  title.  She  is  a  nine-decker, 
500  feet  long,  with  beautiful  lines  for  speed.  Her  capacity,  besides  hei- 
large  crew,  is  3,000  passengers. 

At  night  the  passenger  steamers,  blazing  with  light,  and  the  lights 
of  freighters  and  barges  combine  to  make  the  lakes  the  Great  White 
Waterway  of  the  world.  The  shores  are  lined  with  resorts,  and  gayly 
bedecked  excursion  steamers  thread  their  way  to  them  from  the  cities 
in  a  never-ending  line.  When  winter  comes  and  seals  the  lakes  with 
ice  the  immense  passenger  fleet  ties  up  at  the  docks  in  mile-long 
lines,  waiting  patiently  for  the  opening  of  navigation  in  the  spring. 


Phulo  bu  Stebb, 


IX 


SOUAEE-RIGGEES  AND  FORE-AND-AFTERS 


WHEN  the  United  States  was  but  a  stripling  among  nations,  and 
the  world's  ocean  trade  was  carried  in  wooden  bottoms,  our 
flag  was  shown  in  every  port.  America  ruled  the  waves  in 
those  days.  No  other  craft  could  show  its  heels  to  one  that  carried 
Yankee  topmasts.  Of  all  the  ships  that  sailed  in  blue  water  ours 
excelled  in  the  beauty  of  their  lines,  in  the  cloud  of  white  canvas  that 
was  stretched  on  tapering  spars,  and  in  their  record-breaking  runs 
around  Cape  Good  Hope  with  holds  laden  with  the  teas,  silks  and 
spices  of  the  Far  East  or  in  the  rounding  of  the  Horn. 

There  were  many  reasons  that  won  us  the  supremacy  of  the  seas, 
which  we  wrested  from  Great  Britain  only  to  see  it  pass  back  to  her. 
Back  in  the  days  of  the  colonies  Americans  took  to  the  seas  as  a  natural 
calling.  Our  shores  were  rich  with  timber  and  our  waters  teemed  with 
fish.  The  sea  held  out  rich  rewards  and  the  colonists  were  a  hardy 
lot  for  whom  its  hardships  and  risks  held  no  terrors. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that'  in  the  year  1607,  when  the  first 
permanent  settlement  was  made  in  this  country,  the  first  American 
vessel  built  for  commercial  enterprise  was  launched,  and  to  her  was 
given  the  name  of  that  settlement,  Virginia.  Built  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Kennebec  River,  this  30-ton  pinnace  crossed  the  Atlantic  safely 
and  returned  to  join  the  fishing  vessels  of  Europe  on  the  Newfoundland 
Banks,  sharing  with  them  the  dangers  of  drifting  ice,  black  fogs,  and 
wild  gales.    Others  followed,  and  our  colonial  fishermen  led  the  fishing 

95 


Vi 


100 


THE  MAEVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


fleet  in  sea  skill  and  daring.    To-day  the  Gloucester  fisbermen  hold  up 

their  traditions  in  gallant  fashion. 

Their  rich  jorofits  tempted  still  more,  and  the  ports  of  Salem  and 

Marblehead  grew  until  their  shipyards  were  never  idle  and  their  waters 

were  lively  with  the  com- 
ing and  going  of  a  forest 
of  masts.  The  colonists 
w  ere  fast  gaining  the 
"sea  habit."  P]ven  those 
who  did  not  follow  the  sea 
regularly  foi-  a  livelihood, 
]H"eferring  the  tilling  of 
the  soil,  knew  how  to 
"hand  reef  or  steer." 

The  first  of  these  ves- 
sels carried  three  masts: 
two  fitted  with  square 
sails,  while  on  the  third 
was  a  long,  slender  yard 
that  spread  a  lateen  sail 
fore  and  aft.  Underneath 
the  end  of  the  rakish  bow- 
sprit a  square  sail  was 
also  spread  on  a  yard. 
The  ketch  supplanted  this, 
the  one  small  and  one 
large  mast,  fitted  with 
yards,  being  easier  to 
handle  with  a  smaller 
crew.  Then  came  the 
"snow,"  a  modified  brig, 
two  masts  with  ci'ossed 
yards  as  on  a  ship,  with  a 
slender  mast  abaft  the 
main  for  a  fore-and-aft 
sail.  The  sloop  was  the 
next  to  win  favor,  with  its 
fore  -  and  -  aft  four  -  cor- 
nered sail  and  jib,  Avliich 
still  survives  in  yachts 
and   oyster   boats,   for   it 


— *-^ilif^pr 


!W"r- 


^}4  fe\'V 


Pholo  by  Slebb 
THE     EAST 


INDIAMAN        PANAY 
SALEM 


SETS     OUT     FROM 


SQUARE-RIGGERS  AND  FORE-AND-AFTERS  101 

gave  then  as  well  as  now  the  greatest  speed  in  proportion  to  its  canvas 
and  called  for  the  smallest  crew. 

The  coming-  of  the  schooner  was  a  natural  step  and  its  story  is 
an  interesting  one.  Gloucester  saw  its  first  launching  in  1713,  and 
when  the  news  went  abroad  that  this  two-masted  fore-and-after  was 
to  be  launched  with  her  sails  stretched  a  large  crowd  gathered.  When 
she  took  the  water  the  swift,  graceful  motion  of  the  hull  gliding  out 
into  the  stream  brought  from  one  admirer  the  shout:  "Oh,  how  she 
scoons!"  The  quick-witted  designer  answered,  "A  scooner  let  her 
be!" 

Except  for  the  launching  of  Robert  Fulton  s  steamer  Cleiiuont 
in  1807,  the  invention  of  the  schooner  was  the  most  important  event 
that  ever  transpired  in  American  shipyards,  for  its  economical  and 
liandy  rig  soon  absorbed  the  coast\\'ise  trade  of  the  country.  From 
the  first  schooner  the  type  developed  until  it  reached  its  climax  in  the 
seven-master  Thomas  W.  Laivson. 

The  growth  of  the  colonial  merchant  marine  was  spurred  on  by 
three  curious  trades — smuggling,  privateering,  and  slaving.  They  laid 
the  foundation  which  led  to  the  brilliant  climax  that  came  in  the 
golden  days  of  the  Yankee  clipper  ship.  The  unfair  navigation 
laws  enforced  on  the  colonies  by  Great  Britain  led  to  the  smuggling 
trade,  for  the  colonists  did  not  submit  tamely  to  them.  Their  fast 
.ships  had  little  trouble  in  evading  the  King's  cutters,  for  the  ships  laid 
down  were  built  Avith  an  eye  both  to  speed  and  to  carrying  capacity. 

To  the  royal  returns  to  be  won  from  the  sea  on  the  fishing  banks, 
in  the  growing  whale  tisheries,  with  Nantucket  and  New  Bedford  as 
the  rendezvous  of  the  whalers,  and  in  smuggling,  were  next  added  those 
of  the  slave  trade.  In  those  days  "black-birding,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  not  considered  an  unjust  practice.  Its  profits  lay  in  quick  runs, 
and  here  again  the  combination  of  speed  and  capacity  helped  lay  the 
foundations  of  many  a  solid  fortune  for  a  God-fearing  people. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  with  this  activity  at  sea  there  grew  up  a 
hardy  brood  of  sailormen  second  to  none.  Some  even  yielded  to  the 
lure  of  a  pirate's  adventurous  career,  Avith  its  promise  of  fat  prizes, 
the  excitement  of  the  chase,  and  its  hand-to-hand  tights  between  the 
crews  of  honest  merchantmen  and  those  who  sailed  and  fought  under 
the  Jolly  Roger. 

They  made  Madagascar  Island  a  headquarters,  and  here  the 
notorious  Captain  Kidd  sailed  in  a  private  armed  ship,  American 
manned,  to  rob  them  of  their  stolen  wealth.  A  mutiny  broke  out  on 
his  ship,  the  Adventure  Galley,  and  in  quelling  it  Kidd  struck  a  muti- 


Plwlo  liii  Slelihiris 


THE       TIMANDRA       l\    \    W  I  H  il.l  :sAIIj  BREEZE 


PhotoAiy  Stebbins 


THK  UAKK       Kiil-WAKD       ILil 
102 


IIU;   '.  'iDL   NUMUhl: 


SQUAKE-RIGGERS  AND  FORE-AND-AFTERS  103 

neer  with  a  bucket  and  killed  him.  He  found  the  pirates  at  Madagascar 
Island  too  strong  for  him  to  attack,  and  so  he  set  sail  for  his  home 
port  with  a  ship  that  he  captured  on  the  high  seas.  In  the  meantime 
he  had  been  branded  as  a  pirate  and  on  his  return  was  hanged.  Held 
up  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  pirates,  Captain  Kidd  could  boast  of  only 
one  captured  prize  and  a  sea  brawl  in  which  he  killed  his  man  with  a 
bucket. 

When  the  colonists  threw  off  the  yoke  of  the  British  in  1776,  their 
merchant  marine,  in  both  ships  and  men,  was  a  threat  to  be  reckoned 
with.  It  had  won  its  share  of  commerce,  and  our  Yankee  tars  and 
Yankee  ships  showed  brilliantly  throughout  the  war.  The  deeds  of 
our  privateersmen  in  the  War  of  the  American  Revolution  stand  high 
in  the  annals  of  the  sea. 

Most  noted  of  the  privateersmen  was  the  brig  General  Armstrong, 
commanded  by  Captain  Samuel  G.  Reid.  Three  British  warships,  en 
route  with  reenforcements  for  the  British  besieging  New  Orleans, 
attacked  her  at  anchor  in  the  harbor  of  Fayal,  in  the  Azores,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1814.  After  a  spirited  all  day  and  night  battle  her  brave  crew 
drove  off  the  British  with  heavy  losses.  Captain  Reid  then  scuttled 
and  abandoned  her  and  fortified  himself  ashore.  The  British  gave  up 
the  fight,  but  the  delay  of  a  week  in  burying  their  dead  and  making 
repairs  proved  fatal  to  their  original  errand.  When  they  arrived  off 
New  Orleans,  General  Jackson  had  defeated  the  British  in  the  most 
brilliant  success  of  the  War  of  1812. 

The  heavily  armed  British  men-o'-war  were  no  match  for  our 
privateersmen  in  speed  or  seamanship,  and  their  merchantmen  were 
helpless  against  their  swift  raids. 

The  officers  and  crews  laid  the  foundation  for  the  American  Navy, 
and  it  was  small  wonder  that  with  such  stock  to  draw  from  we  were 
able  to  humble  the  Barbary  pirates,  and,  though  we  lost  heavily  at 
sea  in  the  War  of  1812,  our  frigates  and  armed  merchantmen  at  least 
won  the  right  for  an  Ameiican  ship  to  sail  the  high  seas  unmolested. 

The  close  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution  left  our  sea-carrying  trade 
crippled,  for  peace  saw  but  one-quarter  of  the  cargoes  that  came  and 
went  from  American  ports.  Wise  legislation  liegun  by  George  Wash- 
ington to  aid  ships  built  and  owned  by  Americans  soon  remedied  this. 
The  merchant  marine  grew  by  leaps  and  bounds.  One  hundred  years 
ago  our  foreign  commerce  was  almost  as  great  as  it  was  before  the 
European  War  of  1914  revived  our  overseas  trade. 

With  this  remarkable  growth  men  turned  again  to  shipping.  From 
the  yards  on  the  New  England  coast  were  launched  craft  that  excelled 


\o\        'rill'.  MAia  I'M.  ]M)oK  i)V  ami:k1('\\  siiirs; 


l*hiih>  hit  St<1*hi»i> 


•\-\\\:   liVKM'.M'lNK  "liMUKl.  KMl'.in 


ill  speed  Mllll  011- 
|i;n'ity.  ;i  comhinn- 
tioii  llint  no  (or- 
eiuii  sen  p  o  \v  (^  r 
e  (>  n  I  (I  e.pinl.  It 
w  ns  e\  en  ni  o  r  e 
^upi'enie  in  t  h  e 
sinnitness  nnd 
seamanship  of  the 
men  will*  manned 
t  h  o  s  e  wiHiderlul 
ships.  Thoir  offi- 
('(M-s  \V(>re  men  o\' 
edneation  and  fam- 
ily as  well  as  ilar- 

iuu".   shrewd   traders  who  were   pioneers   in   new   trade   routes.     They 

eombed  the  seas  I'or  rieh  earuoes.  ;ind  showed  their  topsails  in  port  I'ar 

ahead  o['  any  t'oreiiiu  rivals. 

Then  eanit>  the  design  o\'  the  Ualtimore  elippers,  whieh  swept  the 

sea  with  tht-ir  remarkahle  tpialities  when  th(>  tirst  was  tnnied  out  from 

a  ('hes;>pi\nke  shiiiy;inl      W  itli  their  liuhl  draft,  i^reat  hreadth  of  beam, 

elippiM'  hows,  and  ji'rt'nl  spread  of  s.ail,  they  emdd  walk  away  from  any 

other  eraft  ailoat.    Their  cabins  were  litted  witli  rare  woiids,  tlieir  bows 

with  earveil  liiiiireheads,  and  no  ships  eonld  olose  the  gap  between  their 

riohly   oavved    and 

!>•  i  I  d  0  d     sterns. 

Their     skippers 

seorned  \o  take  in 

their    li,i;ht    sails 

when    nuu'e    timid 

sea  fa  r  i  n  g-    men 

showed    b;ue    ti^p 

masts.      They    de- 
lighted in  earrying 

fnll  sail  and  driv- 

ins?  their  sliijis  in 

the  faeo  ot"  a  howl- 

ing  gale.    But  they 

knew     that     nnder 

their  feet  was  the    rMo h„ ^irMi.. 

best  of  timber,  that    thk  briuaxtixk  "KArm  tuaxsu  '  o\  srAUBOAun  taok 


SQrAin-;in(;(ii;i;s  .\m>  loin:  AXD-AF^rKUs 


105 


THE    "FEANK  HARNETT      IH  A  TYFICAL  M^AteTlNO  te<;H<><^Nfcll 


ovfrhead  the  slini 
spars  were  equal 
to  the  gale,  and 
that  their  crews 
were  picked  men. 
Constant  vigilance 
was  hand  in  liand 
with  their  daring. 
The  sea  had  come 
to  them  as  a  heri- 
tage. 

It  was  in  the 
ten-year  period  be- 
ginning with  1847 
that  the  clippers 
held  their  greatest 

sway.  Then  came  the  rush  of  gold-hunters  to  California  by  the  deep- 
sea  route  around  Cape  Horn;  the  great  Irish  famine  created  unusual 
demands  for  foodstuflfs  tliat  Europe  could  not  supply;  and  the  ?>ast 
Indian  trade  was  at  its  height.  In  one  year  of  that  period  alone  more 
than  a  half-million  of  tonnage  was  added  to  the  American  merchant 
marine. 

The  clipper  ships  bore  bra\e  names  in  those  days  when  seafaring 

men  had  not  been 
sobered  by  the  pro- 
saic influences  that 
came  in  with  the 
era  of  steam. 
Westward  Ho, 
Sovereign  of  the 
Seas,  the  Flying 
Cloud,  the  Comet, 
the  Lightning  and 
the  Dreadnaught 
were  the  leaders  of 
the  clipper  fleet. 
Queen  of  them  all 
was  the  Dread- 
naught,  command- 
ed by  Captain 
A  B.ALi>-HEADED  scHoo.vEK  Samuel  Samucls  of 


106 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


the  American  merchant  marine.  The  sailors  called  her  "the  "Wild 
Boat  of  the  Atlantic"  after  she  hung  up  her  record  of  9  days  and  17 
hours  in  the  2,760-mile  run  from  Sandy  Hook  to  QueenstowTi ;  and  the 
i-ecord  holds  good  to-day  for  sailing  craft.  The  Flyinr/  Cloud  made 
the  trip  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  in  89  days  and  18  hours;  on 
one  run  of  24  hours  she  made  the  astonishing  distance  of  427  miles. 


IVu'ln  btj  .Slcbbins 


THE  SIX-MASTED   SCHOONER   "  GEORGE  W.    WELLS  " 


The  Sovereign  of  the  Seas,  another  of  those  miracle  ci'aft,  logged  even 
seven  miles  more  on  her  fastest  daj^  When  the  Li t/Ji tiling  left  Eng- 
land for  Calcutta  with  troops  she  made  the  Indian  port  sixteen  days 
before  any  other  of  the  troopers,  while  some  of  them  dropped  anchor 
full  forty  days  behind  her. 

The  end  of  that  romantic  period  saw  a  steady  tlecline.  Iron  was 
beginning  to  supplant  wood  for  shipbuilding.  The  great  advantage  we 
had  held  in  our  limitless  forests  fell  before  the  greater  output  of  iron 
that  Great  Britain  enjoyed.     Congress  wiped  out  the  subsidies  that 


]0S 


THE  :\IARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


George  AVashingtoii  had  begun,  and  wlien  the  Civil  War  was  ended  our 
ships  numbered  but  half  their  proud  strength. 

Confederate  privateersmen,  notably  the  Alabama,  had  taken  heavy 
toll,  for  our  shijis  were  built  and  owned  largely  in  the  North.  A  great 
part  of  the  merchant  tieet  had  gone  under  the  neutral  protection  of  the 
British  flag,  and  the  needs  of  the  fighting  forces  had  converted  many 

into  ships  of  war  or  aux- 
iliaries. It  was  cheaper  to 
build  and  man  foreign 
ships,  and  famous  old 
clippers  were  dismantled 
to  do  duty  as  coal  barges 
up  and  down  the  coast. 

Low-water  mark  was 
sounded  by  our  shipping 
in  1898,  -when  American 
bottoms  carried  less  than 
ten  per  cent,  of  our  trade. 
No  longer  did  Yankee 
ships  venture  out  into 
blue  water  to  show^  their 
masts  in  every  corner  of 
the  world.  In  some  great 
ports  the  American  flag 
was  not  seen  from  one 
gear's  end  to  another,  un- 
h'ss  it  flew  over  the  decks 
of  a  man-o'-war  or  private 
yacht.  American  crews 
were  almost  unknown, 
and  our  forecastles  were 
filled  wnth  seafaring  men 
of  alien  birth.  Only  tlie  schooners  held  their  own  in  the  coastwise  trade, 
and  it  was  then  that  the  famous  Thainas  W.  Laicson  was  launclied. 
She  was  soon  the  talk  of  the  seas,  and  sailormen  were  hard  jnit  to  it 
to  find  names  for  all  of  her  seven  masts.  Some  compromised  by 
naming  them  from  bow  to  stern  after  the  days  of  the  week,  beginning 
with  Sunday.  Others  gave  them  the  truly  nautical  names  of  forecastle- 
mast,  foi-emast,  mainmast,  mizzenmast,  jiggermast,  spanker-  or  driver- 
mast,  and  aftermast.  Her  sails  were  lowered  and  hoisted  with  donkey 
engines,  and  a  small  crew  handled  her  with  her  tons  of  cargo.     Her 


Courtesy  of  "  Y,\cld,„<i 

THE  HI(illK.ST  TYPE  OK  SLOOP 


SQUARE-RIGGERS  AND  FoRE-AND-AFTERS 


109 


career  was  ended  when  she  went  ashore  at  night  near  the  Needles  in 
the  English  Channel. 

Only  the  Gloucester  fishermen  and  the  blue  ribbon  ninety-foot 
sloops  that  defended  the  America's  Cup  from  foreign  challengers 
upheld  the  memories  of  the  old  days. 

There  is  no  more  distinctive  Yankee  craft  than  the  fishing  schooner 
of  Gloucester.  Her  lines  are  those  of  the  clipper  and  her  sails  rival 
those  of  a  yacht. 
Starting  from  port 
with  only  a  lead- 
line, chart,  and 
compass,  these 
modern  Vikings 
stay  out  for  weeks. 
The  Grand  Banks 
off  Newfoundland 
and  the  George's 
of¥  Cape  Cod  are 
their  usual  fishing- 
grounds,  but  many 
make  their  way  to 
the  fishing-grounds 
off  Norway.  They 
carry  their  dories 
nested  on  deck,  and 
all  but  the  captain 

and  the  cook  take  to  them,  two  men  to  a  dory,  when  the  fishing- 
grounds  are  reached.  Their  lines,  which  they  call  trawls,  are  run  out, 
buoyed  and  anchored  at  one  end,  and  when  the  end  of  the  trawl  is 
reached  they  go  back  and  haul  in.  Captain  and  cook  jog  along,  picking 
up  the  string  of  dories  at  the  end  of  the  day's  fishing. 

Then  comes  the  race  to  port,  when  the  schooner's  hold  is  filled  witii 
her  catch  iced  down  for  the  market.  Every  bit  of  sail  is  made,  ar.d 
with  skillful  seamanship  the  fleet'  races  home,  the  winners  benefiting 
by  the  higher  profits  that  await  the  first  ari'ivals.  The  Gi'and  Banks 
fishing-ground  lies  near  the  transatlantic  route,  and  Kipling,  in  his 
"Captains  Courageous,"  immortalized  the  risks  that  the  plucky  fisher- 
men run  when  a  great  liner  comes  slicing  through  the  fog.  Many  a 
Gloucester  schooner  made  port  with  a  man  or  so  missing  from  the 
crew  of  twenty  when  it  was  necessary  to  send  men  out  on  the  bowsprit 
to  handle  her  headsails.    Handicapped  with  sea-boots  and  heavy  clothes. 


Pholo  by  Stebbins 

THE  GLOUCESTER  FISHERMAN 


HELEN  B.  THOMAS 


110  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

they  had  lost  their  hold  in  rough  weather.  But  progress,  which  can 
hardly  improve  on  the  racing  lines  and  the  big  spread  of  canvas  which 
these  doughty  fishermen  have  put  into  their  schooners,  has  given  the 
modern  schooner  the  safer  knockabout  bow  and  so  has  robbed  the  sea 
of  many  victims.  The  new  ones  also  carry  auxiliary  power,  wdiich 
makes  them  independent  of  calms  and  light  airs. 


A  GREAT  LAKES  EXPRESS  CRUISER  IN  ACTION 


MOTOEBOATS     FOR    FUN    OR    WAR 


THE  love  of  speed  is  truly  an  Amei'iean  trait;  and  the  fact  that 
in  tlie  motorboat  Miss  Minneapolis  we  have  the  fastest  craft 
in  tlic  wo  lid  accounts  in  part  for  the  hold  that  motorboating 
has  on  Americans.  But  the  thrill  of  speeding  through  the  water  at 
the  rate  of  a  fast  express-train  is  not  the  only  one  that  has  drawn 
thousands  to  this  recreation.  In  every  section  of  the  country  where 
the  sport  is  possible  a  new  fleet  takes  the  water  every  year.  They 
are  of  all  types,  from  the  racing  hydroplanes  to  the  little  runabouts, 
and  the  range  of  craft  that  may  be  classed  as  motorlioats  takes  in  new 
models  yearly.  Some  are  built  for  Inirsts  of  speed  and  others  cruise 
well  out  of  sight  of  land. 

Not  satisfied  with  the  protection  of  harbors  or  secluded  waters, 
a  35-foot  motorboat,  the  Detroit,  even  crossed  the  Atlantic  under  her 
own  power  and  logged  (i,000  miles  before  she  came  to  rest  in  a  great 
Russian  port. 

The  European  War  even   more   strongly  emphasized  the  truth 

111 


112  THE  MARVEL  BUOK  UF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


THE  CREW  OF  THE  MILE-A-MINUTE  BOAT 

that  what  we  first  looked  upon  as  a  fragile  and  expensive  toy  has 
but  little  limit  to  its  usefulness.  American-built  motorboats  won  their 
way  in  that  greatest  of  wars  to  rank  as  a  useful  part  of  the  modern 
fleet. 

AVhen  motorboating  began  it  was  the  sport  of  wealthy  men.    To-day 

it  is  within  the 
power  of  any  one 
with  a  skiff  or  row- 
boat  to  join  the 
great  armada  by 
simply  attaching  to 
its  stern  an  out- 
board motor  at  an 
outlay  of  fifty  dol- 
lars. 

Fastest  of  all 
types  is  the  hydro- 
plane. One  great 
stride  in  the  de- 
sign of  the  luill, 
MILK  A  MiMii;  and  the  advance  in  < 


MOTORBOATS  FOR  FUN  OR  WAR 


113 


THE   DETROIT   CROSSED  THE  OCEAN 


high-powered  mo- 
tor engines  made 
the  old  dream  of 
the  mile-a-minute 
boat  come  true  in 
Miss  Minneapolis. 
Her  designer,  C. 
C.  Smith,  of  Algo- 
nac,  Michigan,  first 
took  as  his  model 
what  would  seem 
to  the  novice  a  wa- 
termelon seed.  Af- 
ter its  speed  had 
been  proved  there 
came  greater  im- 
provement ; but  the 
hydroplanes  were 
far  from  comfort- 
able with  the  spray  dashing  over  them,  and  they  were  hard  to  hold  on 
a  straight  course.  They  settled  deep  at  the  stern  and  flew  over  the 
water  in  a  series  of  flops  or  jumps.  The  fascination  of  their  speed  was 
keen  and  the  new  type  made  hydroplane  racing  the  rage. 

Then  came  still  another  change  in  the  design  of  the  hull,  and  this 
sent  the  hydroplane  skimming  over  the  surface  like  a  fleet  waterfowl. 
It  was  the  V-bottom  idea  introduced  by  a  leading  designer,  William 
J.  Hand,  Jr.    The  V-bottom,  when  the  boat  is  underway,  lifts  it  bodily, 

cutting  down,  both 
the  resistance  of 
the  hull  and  the 
friction  of  the  wa- 
ter. It  is  a  sea- 
worthy type  too, 
for  it  throws  the 
water  away  from 
the  hull,  and  the 
faster  the  boat  is 
driven  the  more 
stable  it  is.  Not 
only  did  it  give  the 

FORTY  FEET  OF  SPEED  OX  THE  (;UEAT  LAKES  hydrOplaUe     itS     iU- . 


114  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


THE   "whippet"   is  AS  SPEEDY  AS  ITS  NAME 


creased  speed  but 
with  the  V-bottom 
heavy,  staunch 
boats  can  be  driv- 
en at  great  speed: 
a  speed  that  hith- 
erto had  been  real- 
ized only  in  nar- 
row-beamed, un- 
seaworthy,  and  un- 
comfortable craft. 
Soon  after  the 
"\"-bottom  brought 
the   racing   hvdro- 


plane  to  the  high- 
water  mark  of  speed  Miss  Minneapolis  flashed  through  the  motorboat 
world  like  a  meteor.  "Miss  Minnie,"  as  she  is  affectionately  kno^\^l, 
was  built  for  the  city  of  Minneapolis  to  wrest  away  from  Detroit  the 
famous  Gold  Challenge  Cup.  In  1915  Miss  Detroit,  built  by  a  syndi- 
cate of  prominent  Detroiters  to  compete  for  the  Gold  Challenge  Cup, 
won  from  all  competitors.  ^Minneapolis  took  a  leaf  out  of  Detroit's 
book  and  a  syndicate  built  a  motorboat  and  named  her  Miss  Minne- 
apolis. The  race  of  1916  was  a  great  event  with  Miss  Detroit  and 
Miss  Minneapolis  fighting  for  the  honors  of  their  respective  cities. 
Over  six  one-mile 
trials  they  meas- 
ured their  speed, 
and  "Miss  Min- 
nie" proved  the 
faster  boat,  with 
an  average  of 
61.08  miles  an  hour 
— a  new  world's 
record  for  craft  of 
any  kind.  She  is 
only  twenty  feet  in 
length  and  not 
quite  one-third  of 
that  in  beam,  but 
her  250  horsepow- 
er   motor    on    the  .Mii.uAin  iaihol  boats  maneuvekinu 


MOTOEBOATS  FOR  FUN  OR  WAR  115 

fastest  of  her  six  trials  drove  her  at  the  astonishing  speed  of  63.5 
miles. 

When  you  learn  that  the  first  race  held  for  the  Gold  Cup  but 
twelve  years  before  was  won  with  the  speed  of  22  miles  an  hour, 
this  performance  of  Miss  Minneapolis  shows  the  strides  that  Amer- 
ican skill  and  ingenuity  have  made.  The  European  War  put  an  end 
to  the  exciting  speed  boat  races,  but  America,  first  in  every  type  of 
racing  boat,  stands  higher  in  no  class  than  she  does  in  her  hydro- 
planes. 

Ranking  with  the  record-breaking  performance  of  Miss  Minne- 
apolis is  the  remarkable  trip  of  the  motorboat  Detroit — which  should 
not  be  confused  with  Miss  Detroit — from  the  city  of  her  birth  to 
Petrograd.  The  Detroit  and  her  plucky  crew.  Captain  Thomas  Flem- 
ing Day  and  four  men,  made  her  way  by  lake  and  canal  from  Detroit 
to  deep  water.  From  New  Rochelle  she  started  on  her  cruise  across 
the  Atlantic  on  July  14,  1912,  and  arrived  at  Queenstown,  Ireland, 
twenty-four  days  later.  All  the  way  she  was  buffeted  by  wind  and 
sea,  as  her  battered  hull  and  fittings  showed  to  the  wondering  people 
of  the  Irish  port.  Only  once  in  that  long  run  did  her  Scripps  motor 
stop,  a  tribute  to  the  advance  in  motors  that  has  kept  pace  with  the 
advance  in  design. 

For  twenty-one  days  of  that  long  leg  of  her  cruise  the  Detroit 
was  out  of  sight  of  land,  logging  an  average  rate  of  six  and  one-half 
miles  an  hour  under  unfavorable  conditions.  In  her  tanks  she  carried 
1,200  gallons  of  gasoline.  From  Queenstown  the  Detroit  sallied  forth 
to  show  her  flag  in  the  English  port  of  Southampton,  thence  to  the 
Dutch  port  of  Amsterdam.  Up  the  Baltic  Sea  to  Petrograd,  or  St. 
Petei-sburgh  as  it  was  then  called,  the  35-foot  motorboat  had  a  tri- 
umphal procession.  Her  arrival  at  the  end  of  her  6,000-mile  cruise 
was  the  occasion  of  great  enthusiasm  and  official  celebrations  in  honor 
of  the  sturdy  little  Yankee  craft  and  her  crew. 

The  application  of  the  V-bottom  idea  extended  not  only  to  the 
hydroplane  but  to  the  leisurely-paced  runabout,  and  then  came  the 
swift  express  cruiser.  One  of  the'  first  was  the  Flyaway  III,  and  her 
splendid  performances  led  to  the  building  of  a  great  fleet  of  these 
staunch  and  swift  boats.  In  the  140-mile  ocean  race  from  New  Rochelle 
to  Buzzard's  Bay,  which  she  won  at  the  average  speed  of  27  miles  an 
hour,  this  smart,  rakish  craft  at  times,  before  her  nearest  competitor 
dropped  out  of  the  contest,  slid  over  the  water  at  a  speed  of  29  miles 
an  hour. 

The  history  of  motorboats  is  one  of  development;  for  even  as 


11(5  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Courtcsu  •'!■■  I  '       l: 


THE  NAVY  MOTOR  BARGE  OF  AX  ADMIRAL 


the  express,  cruiser  is  the  devekipment  of  the  hydroplane  and  tlie 
runabout,  the  great  success  of  the  express  cruiser  led  in  1916  to  a 
squadron  designed  for  coast  patrol  boats  and  submarine  chasers.     It 


THE  GREENPORT  BASIN  AND  CONSTRUCTION  COMPANY  blllPS  A  SUBMARINE   CHASER 

TO    RUSSIA 


MOTOEBOATS  FOR  FUN  OR  WAR 


117 


Tllli  FAMOUS  EXPRESS  CRUISER 
OR 


CHINGACHGOOK 
A   FROLIC 


READY  FOR  A  FIGHT 


began  with  the  formation  of  a  power  boat  auxiliary  force  by  patriotic 
citizens,  and  tlie  Navy  l)e]:)artment  was  not  slow  to  recognize  its  value 
to  our  coast  defense.  These  boats  carry  either  the  V-shaped  bottom 
or  the  equally  well-known 
round  bilges  of  the  Swasey 
type.  The  squadron  has 
grown  into  a  great  mosquito 
fleet,  and  in  the  event  of  war 
submarines  can  no  longer 
creep  into  our  ports  unseen, 
hostile  fleets  cannot  lay  dead- 
ly mines  in  our  waters,  nor 
the  ships  slip  by  our  forts  at 
night,  without  constant  peril 
from  the  vigilance  of  the  mili- 
tary type  of  motorboats.  In 
their  first  maneuvers  with  the 
Fleet  they  worked  together 
with  aeroplanes,  discovered 
mines,  trapped  submarines, 
and  did  wonderfully  efficient 
patrol. 

Many  of  the  boats  used 
by  Great  Britain  and  Russia 
for  coast  patrol  and  the 
thrills  of  submarine  hunting 
were  built  in  American  yards. 
Their  speed  is  double  that  of  the  "chingachgook"  bows  on 


118  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

the  submarine;  and  with  their  double  rudders  they  can  turn  on  their 
heels  and  twist  and  dodge  like  an  eel.  They  offer  little  mark  for  a 
submarine's  guns,  and  are  so  shallow  that  they  can  pass  with  security 
over  a  mine  field.  Should  an  enraged  submarine  skipper  launch  a  tor- 
pedo at  one  it  would  pass  harmlessly  under  its  hull.  A  patch  of  oil  or 
the  wake  of  a  periscope  betrays  the  submarine  to  this  little  craft,  and 
one  shot  from  its  rapid-fire  gun,  if  it  should  strike  the  periscope,  would 
blind  the  tiger  of  the  sea. 

They  carry  military  masts  for  wireless  and  signals,  and  some 
have  small  armored  conning  towers  for  pilot  houses. 

Woi'king  hand  in  hand  with  the  Government  the  owners  of  the 
military  cruisers  are  standardizing  many  features,  and  to-day  the 
new  ones  being  built  are  designed  with  the  idea  of  converting  them 
into  patrol  cruisers  if  needed.  It  takes  little  time  to  build  them,  as 
was  shown  by  the  Boston  and  Long  Island  yards,  which  on  short 
notice  built  for  the  Russian  Government  squadrons  w^ith  a  speed  rang- 
ing to  35  miles,  and  a  strong  forward  deck  to  carry  a  rapid-fire  gun. 
These  patrol  boats  proved  worth  many  times  their  cost  to  the 
Russians. 

The  first  ones  shown  to  our  Government  were  designed  by  A. 
Loring  Swasey  of  Boston.  They  so  delighted  the  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  with  their  seaworthy  qualities  that  he  immediately  stamped 
them  with  Uncle  Sam's  approval. 

Well  representative  of  the  speedy  type  of  the  modern  submarine 
chaser  is  the  Chinf/achgook.  Her  steersman  is  protected  from  hostile 
fire  and  heavy  seas  by  a  steel  shelter.  She  carries  a  signal  mast,  and 
her  decks  are  reenforced  with  steel  to  give  her  greater  strength  and 
to  carry  the  weight  and  stand  the  firing  of  a  Colt  automatic  gnn 
forward  and  a  Navy  3-pounder  semi-automatic  aft.  The  Chingachgook, 
named  after  one  of  Cooper's  Indian  chiefs,  is  60  feet  long  and  has 
comfortaljle  berths  and  galley  accommodations  for  a  crew  of  eight. 
Her  speed  is  25  miles  an  hour.  Russia  has  thirty-six  of  the  Chhigach- 
gook  type  built,  as  she  was,  by  the  Greenport  Basin  &  Construction 
Company. 

Even  the  old,  barge-shaped  house-boats,  beautiful  within  but 
homely  as  an  ark  without,  have  caught  the  speed-fever.  Their  owners 
are  no  longer  content  with  their  leisurely  speed,  and  new  ones  are 
being  built  every  year  with  beautiful  lines  and  greater  speed  without 
any  loss  of  comfort.  The  most  original  of  them  all,  as  picturesque 
as  the  old  Spanish  caravel  after  which  it  is  modeled,  and  as  luxurious 
as  it  is  beautiful,  is  Henry  A.  Morss'  Halcyon. 


MOTOEBOATS  FOR  FUN  OR  WAR 


119 


THE  "halcyon"  recalls  THE  OLD  SPANISH  CARAVELS 

Commodore  Bourne,  a  leading  yachtsman,  has  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence a  gondt)hi  that  needs  no  Venetian  gondolier  with  long  sweep, 
for  it  is  in  reality  a  motorboat  designed  by  an  American  builder. 


120  THE  MARVEL  BCX^K  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

The  sea-sled  is  still  another  startling  type  of  motorboat  that  is 
of  i)urely  American  origin,  and,  as  Albert  Hickman  of  Boston  is  its 
father,  it  is  generally  known  as  the  Hickman  sea-sled.  It  is  scowlike, 
with  its  sides  flat  and  straight,  wider  at  the  bow  than  at  the  stern. 
In  rough  weather  the  sea-sled  is  incomj)arable  both  as  to  speed  and 
as  to  dryness.  A  V-shaped  opening  in  the  bow  collects  the  spray  and 
carries  it  along  its  length  under  the  bottom  instead  of  throwing  it 
on  deck.  Air  is  also  collected  at  the  same  time,  and  the  sea-sled  rides 
on  a  cushion  of  mixed  air  and  water.  Four  propellers  work  in  pairs, 
one  to  the  right  and  one  to  the  left,  and  out  from  the  stern  flies  a 
wake  of  white  water.  Both  for  fun  and  for  war  the  sea-sled  offers 
great  possibilities,  and  the  Navy  has  shown  practical  interest  in  its 
use  as  a  patrol  craft. 


XI 


AMEEICAN   YACHTING 


THE  sailing  yacht  is  the  bUie  ribbon  craft  of  the  sea.  The 
Hoating  fortresses  of  tlie  navies,  the  ocean  grej'hounds  that 
link  the  principal  seaports,  the  prosaic  freighters  that  carry 
the  overseas  trade,  yield  her  that  honor  withont  dispute.  American 
yachts  have  never  failed  in  the  supremacy  that  was  tirst  won  by  the 
schooner  yacht  America  in  English  waters  in  1851.  Since  then  a  long- 
line  of  schooner  and  sloop-rigged  yachts  has  defeated  the  pick  of  the 
English  yards  in  their  vain  effort  to  lift  the  historic  America's  Cup. 
There  have  been  other  stirring  races  in  which  American  yachts 
have  uniformly  shown  their  heels  to  the  crack  sloops,  schooners,  or 
yawls  of  foreign  countries,  both  in  ocean  races  and  in  regattas,  and 
in  purely  American  races  in  which  old  champions  have  had  to  bow 

12f 


122  THE  JilARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


to  a  better  boat,  but  the  history  of  the  American  yacht  is  mainly 
that  of  the  America's  Cup  series. 

The  America's  Cup  was  fli'st  known  as  the  Queen's  Cup,  a  hun- 
dred-ounce silver  cup  offered  l)y  Queen  Victoria  in  a  free-for-all  race 
off  Cowes,  England,  on  August  22,  1851.  At  this  time  the  American 
flag,  floating  from  the  stern  of  swift  clipper 
ships  was  preeminent  on  the  sea,  and  the 
New  York  Yacht  Club  conceived  the  idea  of 
sharing  in  the  glory  held  by  the  clipper 
fleet.  The  World's  Fair  held  in  London 
that  same  year  had  attracted  a  great  squad- 
ron of  racing  yachts  to  Cowes,  and  America 
was  unrepresented.  A  syndicate  subscribed 
the  necessary  monej^  and  George  Steers  de- 
signed a  schooner  yacht  along  the  lines  that 
had  made  American  pilot  boats  famous  for 
their  speed.  In  seventeen  and  a  half  days 
the  America  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  the 
French  port  of  Havre  and  soon  showed  her 
prowess  in  victories  over  British  yachts. 

There  were  seventeen  yachts  in  all  that 
crossed  the  starting-line  for  the  Queen's 
Cup.  The  course  was  around  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  and  local  knowledge  of  the  currents 
and  depths  of  the  course  were  held  to  be 
almost  as  necessary  as  speed  itself.  The 
America  bowled  over  the  starting-line  well 
in  the  rear  at  10  o'clock  on  that  historic 
morning,  with  her  mainsail  set  to  port  and 
her  foresail  to  starboard,  "wing  and  wing." 
From  the  beginning  she  walked  through  the 
fleet  and  easily  finished  twenty  minutes  ahead  of  her  nearest  comjieti- 
tor.    Some  did  not  cross  the  flnish-line  until  the  next  day. 

It  is  told  of  Queen  Victoria,  then  a  young  girl,  that  in  the  eve- 
ning she  called  her  sailing  master,  and  asked  him  for  news  of  the 


THE  AMEIUCa's  cup 


salt. 


"The  America  is  first,  Your  Majesty,"  he  answered. 

"And  the  second?" 

"Oh,  Your  Majesty,  there  is  no  second,"  was  the  reply  of  the  sad 

The  London  Pitvcli  told  the  story  in  verse,  as  follows: 


AMERICAN  YACHTING 


123 


"Yankee  Doodle  had  a  craft, 
A  rather  tidy  clipper. 
And  he  challenged,  while  they  laughed. 
The  Britishers  to  whip  her. 
Their  whole  yacht  squadron  she  outsped 
And  that  on  their  own  water ; 
Of  all  the  lot  she  went  ahead. 
And  they  came  nowhere  after." 


isi/  .</  "  Yiichlina" 

THE  START  OF  RACE  BETWEEN  "DEFENDER"  AND  "VALKYRIE     III" 


It  was  forty-eight  years  later  that  the  America,  carrying  an 
identical  rig,  raced  from  New  London  to  a  finishing  buoy  in  Gardi- 
ner's Bay,  across  the  Long  Island  Sound,  with  the  big  fleet  of  schoon- 
ers and  sloops  on  the  first  day  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club's  annual 
cruise.  She  finished  well  ujj  in  the  van,  defeating  many  a  well-kno\ni 
racing  craft. 

The  America's  Cup  was  presented  to  the  New  York  Yacht  Club 
by  Commodore  Stevens,  head  of  the  syndicate  in  1857,  as  a  perpetual 
challenge  trophy.  Little  did  any  one  dream  then  that  millions  would 
be  spent  by  British  yachtsmen  to  bring  it  back  to  its  old  home,  or 
that  American  yachtsmen  would  spend  an  equal  amount  to  keep  on 
our  shores  the  symbol  of  the  world's  yachting  supremacy.  To  meas- 
ure the  cost  of  a  modern  cup  defender  is  to  pass  the  quarter-million 


124 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


mark.  To  gauge  its  defense  from  a  sentimental  viewpoint  is  to  recall 
the  races  of  more  than  half  a  century  and  the  hand-in-hand  growth 
of  yachting  in  this  country. 

It  was  nineteen  yoai'S  from  the  winning  of  the  America's  Cu]) 
before  a  British  challenger  crossed  the  Atlantic.  In  that  time  inter- 
est in  yachting  grew,  and  the  most  notable  event  was  a  transatlantic 

race  held  late  in  December 
of  1856  for  a  purse  of  $60,- 
000.  There  were  three 
contestants,  all  schooners, 
the  Vesta,  Fleetwing,  and 
Henrietta.  Starting  from 
Sandy  Hook  in  blustery 
weather,  the  race  ended  at 
the  Needles  and  the  Hen- 
rietta won.  Captain  Sam- 
uel Samuels,  former  skip- 
per of  the  clipper  ship 
Dreadnaught,  w  as  t  h  c 
Henrietta's  captain. 

Tlie  Cambria  was  the 
first  British  challenger. 
She  was  deep  and  of  nar- 
row beam,  while  the  Yan- 
kee yachts,  fourteen  in  all, 
were,  like  the  America, 
broad  of  beam  and  draw- 
ing less  watei'.  Nine  of 
the  defenders  raced  over 
the  finish-line  ahead  of  the 
Cambria  on  August  8, 
1870,  with  Magic  as  the 
winner. 

Then  followed  the  real  races,  in  each  of  which  a  British  challen- 
ger met  an  American  defender,  each  especially  built  for  the  event, 
and  chosen  as  the  speediest  yacht  that  flew  British  or  American  col- 
ors. The  Columbia,  next  to  defend  our  honors,  against  the  Livonia, 
was  the  first  striking  model,  for  she  carried  a  center-board,  or  mov- 
able keel,  which  was  lowered  when  beating  to  windward  and  drawn 
up  when  sailing  before  the  wind.    The  ' '  skimming  dish, ' '  as  our  British 


TH0M.\S  W.  L.4iWSON  BUILT  THE       INDEPENDENCE 
FOR  THE  cup's  DEFENSE 


Courtesy  of  "  Yochtinn" 


THE  "defender"  PASSING  UNDER  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE 
125 


120 


AMERICAN  YACHTING 


127 


cousins  called  the  Columbia,  easily  won  over  the  deep-keeled  Livonia 
in  the  series  of  1871.  Two  out  of  three  she  took;  and  the  Sappho,  an- 
other "skimming  dish,"  proved  victor  also  by  winning  twice  from 
the  Livonia.  The  Madeleine,  in  1876,  and  the  Mischief,  in  1881, 
kept  the  Cup  over  here; 
and  then  came  the  series 
between  the  Puritan  and 
the  Genesfa  in  1885.  It 
stood  out  above  the  previ- 
ous matches,  for  then  real- 
ly began  the  science  in  de- 
signing a  racing  j^acht's 
hull.  In  one  race  the  Pur- 
itan fouled  the  Genesta 
and,  under  the  rules,  lost ; 
but  Sir  Richard  Sutton  re- 
fused to  accept  such  a  hol- 
low victory.  In  the  last 
race  the  Genesta  was  well 
in  the  lead  near  the  end 
of  the  forty-mile  race  in 
deep  water.  The  two 
yachts  finished  in  a  gale, 
and  the  Yankee  defender 
forged  ahead  and  held  the 
Cup  by  the  narrow  mar- 
gin of  1  minute  and  38  sec- 
onds. 

The  Mayfoiver  de- 
feated the  Galatea  in  tln' 
following  year;  and  the 
Volunteer  the  Thistle  in 
the  succeeding  one.  Then 
came  a  break  in  the  races, 

until  six  years  later,  when  the  Vigilant  won  from  the  Valkyrie  II;  and 
the  Defender  showed  the  way  next  to  the  Valkyrie  III. 

The  trial  races  betw^een  the  big  sloops  for  the  honor  of  defending 
the  Cup  excited  interest  second  only  to  the  Cup  Races.  In  1899  it 
was  nip  and  tuck  between  the  old  Defender  and  the  new  Columbia 
before  the  latter  was  chosen  to  meet  the  famous  Shamrock  I,  Sir 
Thomas  Lipton's  first  challenger. 


Courtesy  of"  Yachtin'j' 

"shamrock    II,' 


SIR    THOMAS    LIPTON  S 
CHALLENGER 


12S 


TTIE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMP]RI('AX  SHIPS 


In  1901  the  Irish 
knight  tried  again 
Avith  SJianirock  II; 
and  the  Columbia, 
proving  faster 
than  the  sloop 
built  to  defend 
the  Cup,  the  Con- 
stitution, a  g  a  i  n 
proved  her  re- 
markable qualities. 
Two  years  later 
Sir  Thomas  pluck- 
ily  made  another 
try  for  the  historic 
silver  mug,  but  the 
Beliaiicc,  built  for 
the  series,  won  in 
easy  fashion. 

In  these  last 
series,  to  which  the 
European  War  has  put  a  check,  the  models  of  the  defenders  and  chal- 
lengers were  much  alike.  Their  hulls  were  twice  as  deep  and  four 
times  as  long  as  wide.  Big  fin  keels  that  extended  twenty  feet  below 
water  held  them  up  in  the  stiffest  blows  when  beating  to  windward; 
for  all  races  are  now  held  in  deep  w'ater,  where  a  fixed  keel  is  superior 
in  every  way  to  center  boards.     The  British  usually  excelled  in  the 


Conrtesij  of"  Yachting" 
THE  CUP  DEFENDER 


RELIANCE       RUNS  HOME  WITH  SPIN- 
NAKER SET 


1 

L      I ^^ 

^^^ 

[^P^ 

^'-ir^imi^m 

r 

^ 

f 

.-.  *  ;_. 

-^tt:;^  i^iflMi 

Curl,'.!,.'/"  Ynchling- 


THE  CUP   DEFENDER       liKLIANXE       IN    DRV   DOCK 


AMERICAN  YACHTING 


129 


wonderful  fit  and  spread  of  thoir  sails,  but  the  Yankee  ninety-footers 
had  the  advantage  in  both  hull  and  crews. 

Deer  Island,  oft'  the  coast  of  Maine,  and  Long  Island  were  the 
recruiting-grounds  for  the  Cup  racers.  Under  the  rules  the  sloops 
were  limited  to  ninety  feet  on  the  waterline,  but  overall  tliey  ran  up 
to  one  hundred  and  thirty-odd.  By  the  conditions  governing  the  races, 
the  challengers  were  entitled  to  choose  the  rig  of  the  contesting  yacht, 
and  the  British  in  recent  years  uniformly  favored  the  sloop.  In  the 
last  of  the  single-stickers  the  spread  of  canvas  towered  up  to  a  height 
of  175  feet  above  the  waterline,  and  with  club  topsail,  headsails,  main- 
sails, and  spinnaker  they  carried  an  enormous  stretch  of  sail. 

Should  Great 
Britain  eventually 
succeed  in  lifting 
the  Cup,  it  is  prob- 
able that  we  would 
challenge  with  a 
schooner.  Most 
notable  of  the  per- 
formances made  by 
recent  schooners 
flying  the  Ameri- 
can colors  was  that 
of  the  Atlantic, 
winner  of  the  ocean 
race  for  the  tro- 
phy offered  by  the 
Kaiser     in     1905. 

The  schooner-rigged  yacht  is  in  its  element  in  ocean  races,  which  range 
all  the  way  from  the  crossing  of  the  Atlantic  to  deep-water  runs  along 
the  coast. 

A  famous  ocean  race  was  that  of  the  schooners  Katuiiia  and 
Elena,  in  1916,  for  the  Brenton  B,eef  Challenge  Cup.  Ever  since  that 
trophy  was  put  up  in  1872  there  has  not  been  a  harder  fought  race 
nor  one  sailed  in  faster  time.  Starting  from  the  Ambrose  Channel 
Lightship,  off  Sandy  Hook,  the  two  fast  schooners  raced  in  a  fresh 
breeze,  with  every  bit  of  sail  drawing,  for  the  Brenton  Reef  Light- 
ship, just  off  the  entrance  to  Newport  Harbor.  The  Katoiira  rounded 
the  halfway  mark  a  half  hour  ahead  of  the  Elena  and  finished  one 
hour  and  a  scant  half  ahead.  She  had  logged  the  264  miles  in  a  little 
over  22  hours,  beating  her  previous  record  of  1915  by  five  and  a  half 


A 

A 

^■-~.., 

Courtesy  of  I'.-. 
THE  SCnOONKR 


WI.N'.N'KU  OF  THE  OCEAN'   RACE 


i;]0 


THE  MARVEL  B(30K  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


liours,  when  she  had  defeated  the  redoubtable  Atlantic.  In  the  fresh- 
est wind  she  made  sixteen  knots  an  hour.  The  Cape  May  Race,  which 
is  from  the  Ambrose  Channel  Lightship  to  Cape  May,  is  second  only 
to  the  l-5i-enton  Reef  Race.     The  Dreadnauf/Jit  was  its  first  winner,  in 

1872. 

A  feature  of  the  yachting 
season  is  the  cruise  which 
every  yacht  club,  on  either 
coast,  the  Great  Lakes  or  oth- 
er inland  waters,  holds  an- 
nually. On  the  summer  cruise 
of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club, 
for  instance,  it  is  not  uncom- 
mon to  count  300  yachts,  sail 
and  steam,  flying  the  blue  and 
red  burgee  with  its  white  star. 
The  cruising  s(iuadron  is  a 
beautiful  marine  picture. 
From  port  to  port  on  its  itin- 
erary races  are  held,  and 
while  the  bulk  of  the  fleet  an- 
chors at  Newport  for  Regatta 
"Week,  the  cracks  fight  it  out 
over  the  course  outside  for 
valuable  trophies.  The  har- 
bor, at  the  height  of  the  re- 
gatta, is  jammed  with  almost 
double  the  strength  of  the 
cruising  squadron,  and  the 
launches  can  barely  thread 
their  way  among  the  cruising 
and  racing  yachts,  both  steam 
and  sail. 

Whoever  has  seen  the 
blue  ribbon  sloops  in  a  brush  for  tlie  America's  Cup  cannot  forget  the 
splendor  of  this  deepsea  classic.  Yachts  of  every  class,  crowded  ex- 
cursion steamers,  tugs  and  all  manner  of  craft  people  the  waters  about 
the  red  Sandy  Hook  Lightship.  Coast  Guard  cutters  and  slate-gray 
destroyers  dart  here  and  there,  patroling  the  course  and  driving  inter- 
lopers away. 

As  the  preparatory  gun  barks  from  the  flagship  the  two  sloops 


Courtesy  of  "  Yachtin^j" 

A  DE.\D  BE.\T  TO  WINDW.XRI) 


AMERICAN  YACHTING 


131 


jockey  for  the  windward  berth.    Their  course  is  signaled  to  them,  and 
as  the  smoke  of  the  starting-gun  drifts  away  they  race  for  the  line. 

The  wind  is  strong  but  they  eat  into  it  with  the  stiffness  of  a 
liner,  with  their  deep  keels  holding  them  to  it  and  a  smother  of  spray 
dancing  at  their  bows.  Their  white-clad  crews  mass  to  windward,  flat 
on  the  decks  that 
are  broken  only  by 
neatly  coiled  hal- 
liards, foot  rails 
and  hatchways. 
Flying  along  with 
masts  aslant  and 
lee  rails  under,  the 
wet  bronze  of  their 
underbodies  glis- 
tens in  the  sun. 
Their  white  sails 
are  taut  as  whip- 
cords, and  from 
the  watching  fleet 
comes  a  roar  of 
whistles,  sirens, 
and  cheers  in  trib- 
ute to  their  beauty. 

The  first  race 
is  fifteen  miles  to 
windward  and  re- 
turn, and  the  sec- 
ond over  an  equi- 
lateral triangular 
course  of  thirty 
miles.  If  a  third  is 
necessary  it  is  fif- 
teen to  windward 
and  return. 

Often  they  stand  on  different  tacks,  separated  by  miles,  and  not 
until  they  cross  bows  or  round  an  outer  mark  is  it  possible  to  know 
which  leads  in  a  close  race.  Every  advantage  of  wind  and  current  is 
fought  for  by  their  shrewd  skippers.  The  making  of  sail  at  a  critical 
moment,  or  the  neat  turning  of  an  outer  mark,  may  prove  the  deciding 
factor  of  the  race. 


CHAMPION  OF  1914 


131 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


In  the  last  of  the  series  in  1899,  between  the  Shamrock  and  the 
Columbia,  the  British  sloop,  sending  up  her  biggest  club  topsail  in 
a  heavy  blow,  and  risking  the  loss  of  her  mast,  almost  overtook  the 


KESdl.riK,"    "X  VMTIE       A\D  "DKFIANCE       WKIU:    lllK  (IT  (.A.NDIDAIES  IN   mU 


flying  Yankee  in  the  last  yards  of  the  fifteen  mile  run  home.     Only 
the  margin  of  4-1  seconds  defeated  her  plucky  maneuver. 

The  steam  yachts  that  sail  under  the  American  yachting  ensign 
are  second  to  none  in  their  cruising  or  racing  qualities,  or  in  the 
luxury  of  their  appointments.     iNfany  of  them  are  auxiliary  rigged, 


THE  PRESIDENTS  YACHT,    U.    S.  S.       MAYFLOWER 


Pttolo  by  Stebbins 


THE  AUXILIARY  SHIP-RIGGED  YACHT  "  VALHALLA ' 
133 


134 


TUK  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMKRTCAX  SHIPS 


VI  s  i  n  g  pail  or 
steam.  Some 
have  passed 
through  the  Pan- 
ama Canal  or  the 
Suez  to  the  Far 
East,  and  others 
have  steamed  up 
the  mighty  Ama- 
zon. A  few  have 
shown  their  bur- 
gees in  every  cor- 
ner of  the  world. 
Others  are  con- 
teiit  to  coniine 
their  cruises  to 
the  limits  of  a 
fresh-water     lake 

or  river.  The  Wlncliester  not  only  is  the  fastest  American  steam  yacht, 
but  no  foreign  one  can  hold  her  own  with  this  modern  high-speed  turbine 
yacht.  She  looks  like  a  destroyer  with  her  straight  sheer,  her  flush 
deck  and  stern,  and  with  her  highest  sjieed  of  33  miles  an  hour  she 
could  give  the  best  of  them  a  race. 


THE  CRACK  SCHOONER  YACHT  " ELENA " 


Courtc.^!/  of"  Ydcliting" 

THE  "KATOUR.^"  running  CLOSE  HAULED 


AN  UP-TO-DATE  FBEIGHTEK 


XII 


THE    FREIGHT    CARRIERS    OF    THE    AMERICAN 
MARINE 


ALTHOUGH  the  United  States  was  the  pioneer  in  steam  navi- 
gation, with  Robert  Fulton's  epoch-making  Clermont  in  1807, 
her  steam  fleet  has  lagged  for  more  than  a  century  behind 
those  of  other  nations.  Our  sailing  packets  and  clipper  ships  led  the 
world  before  the  Civil  War,  but  we  were  content  to  confine  most  of 
our  steam  navigation  to  inland  steamers  that  plied  the  rivers  and  the 
Great  Lakes  with  their  paddle-wheels,  while  our  ocean  rivals  far 
outstripped  us  on  the  blue  water.  And  yet  the  first  steamer  to  cross 
the  Atlantic  was  the  Savannah,  an  American  vessel,  eleven  years  after 
the  Clermont  steamed  up  the  Hudson. 

Great  Britain  lost  her  scepter  as  Mistress  of  the  Seas  to  us  but 
once,  back  in  the  '50 's.  Then  she  forged  ahead  again,  gained  com- 
mand of  the  seas,  and  has  held  it  ever  since.  But  even  as  the  wars 
we  fought  with  other  maritime  powers,  and  later  the  Civil  War,  de- 
nuded the  American  merchant  marine,  the  great  European  War  helped 
build  it  up,  until  once  more  we  loom  up  as  a  sea-going  power  com- 
manding the  respect  of  our  foreign  rivals. 

Great  Britain,  Germany,  France,  Norway,  and  Japan  were  carry- 
ing the  cargoes  of  the  world  when  that  conflict  began.  Subsidies 
and  subventions  by  their  governments  had  been  a  factor  in  the  up- 

135 


THE  FIRST  MOTOR-DRIVEN  TANKER 


A  .MODERN  WEST  COAST  TANKER 


A  MODERN  LUMBER  SCHOONER 
136 


FREIGHT  CARRIERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  :\1ARIXE     1.17 


A  GREAT  LAKES  BULK  FREIGHTER 


building  of  tlicii' 
great  merchant 
fleets.  Cheaper 
coal  and  steel,  the 
lower  cost  of  sup- 
plies, and  1  o  \v  e  r 
wages  to  t  h  e  i  ]■ 
crews  gave  them  a 
great  advantage 
over  the  United 
States.  Great  Brit- 
ain, however,  built 
up  her  trade  over- 
seas with  little  re- 
sort to  the  subsi- 
dies that  were  the 

foundation  of  Japan's  merchant  marine,  or  the  subventions  that  made 
Germany  a  leading  maritime  nation.  Her  cheap  building,  her  many 
shipyards,  and  the  worldwide  trade  of  her  far-flung  Empire  made  her 
merchant  marine  the  model  for  all  other  nations. 

One  great  artificial  aid  to  the  increase  of  a  merchant  marine  is 
the  subsidy,  which  is  the  direct  aid  of  shipping  by  a  government 
without  any  requirement  of  special  service  in  return.  The  other  is 
the  subvention,  the  indirect  aid  extended  to  its  own  shipping  by  a 
government  in  the  form  of  lower  canal  or  railway  rates,  of  exemption 

from  port  dues,  or 
in  other  favors 
that  foreign  ships 
plj^ing  in  that  gov- 
ernment's waters 
do  not  enjoy.  In 
return  for  this,  the 
government  re- 
quires that  lifles  so 
favored  must  carry 
mail,  or  build  its 
ships  so  that  in  case 
of  war  they  easily 
can  be  converted 
into  auxiliaries  or 
transports. 


A  GREAT  LAKES  ORE  AND  FREIGHTER 


138 


TlIK  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMKKICAN  SHIPS 


The  growth  of  our  merchant  marine  was  hampered  for  decades 
by  the  lack  of  either  subsidies  or  subventions,  and  still  more  by  the 
handicap  of  higher  wages,  more  cost  in  building,  and  the  greater 
expense  of  fitting  out  and  supplying  a  Yankee  merchantman.  But  the 
war  changed  all  this  in  a  trice.  The  countries  at  war  lost  millions  of 
tonnage  by  cai)ture,  destruction  by  submarines,  raiders,  and  mines. 
Still  more  millions  were  barred  from  overseas  trade  by  liners  and 
merchantmen  being  interned  in  the  neutral  ports  in  which  they  were 
at  anchor  when  war  was  declared.  Another  heavy  toll  was  taken 
when   wairing  governments   commandeered    their   trading   ships    for 

service  as  auxil- 
iaries to  the  fleets 
and  transports  to 
the  armies.  The 
world  was  hungry 
for  ships  to  carry 
its  freights  and 
foodstuffs.  T  h  e 
United  States 
found  itself  sup- 
plying steel  and 
coal  to  other  na- 
tions. The  great 
gap  between  the 
cost  of  supplies  of 
ship  -  building  ma- 
terials and  even  of 
wages  narrowed  in 
our  favor.  The  demand  for  ships  led  to  high  freight  charges.  Old 
shipyards  were  opened  up,  new  ones  enlai'ged,  and  old  sailing  vessels 
and  iron  hulks  were  hurried  back  into  commission.  The  operating  of 
ships  and  their  building  and  repair  became  a  booming  industry  that 
Americans  had  despaired  of  ever  seeing.  All  these  factors  that  could 
be  traced  directly  to  the  war  aided  in  the  feverish  drive  that  put  the 
American  ship-building  industry  back  on  its  feet. 

It  became  a  common  occurrence  for  a  ship  to  pay  for  itself  on  its 
first  round-trip.  Romance  came  back  with  the  tales  of  the  salvage 
of  stranded  hulks  which  had  been  left  to  rot  in  out-of-the-way  corners 
of  the  world.  American  shipbuilders  made  them  fit  for  the  high  seas 
once  more  and  the  despised  wrecks  made  fortunes  for  the  men  who 
had  the  courage  and  foresight  to  rehabilitate  them.     It  was  not  long 


THE  CAR  FERRY      ANN  ARBOR  NO.  6,      FKHiniNC  :;o  rUKKIHT 
CARS  THROUGH  HEAVY  ICE  ON  LAKK  MICHIGAN 


FREIGHT  CARRIERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  MARINE     139 

before  the  overhauling  of  old  methods,  the  improvement  of  plants,  and 
the  ingenuity  of  Americans  made  it  possible  to  build  u  ship  as  cheaply 
as  the  British  yards  on  the  Clyde  and  Irish  Sea  could. 

With  the  boom  came  new  types  of  ships  for  coastwise  and  over- 
seas trade.  The  great  demand  for  oil  alone  led  to  the  building  of  the 
first  motor-driven  tanker  and  of  the  first  motor-driven  schooner 
designed  for  the  oil-carrying  trade.  The  Brammel  Point  was  the  first 
tanker.  Built  by  the  Baltimore  Dry  Dock  and  Shipbuilding  Company, 
she  carries  her  oil  in  twelve  tanks.     They  are  filled  and  emjitied  by 


THIS  TYPICAL  LAKE  FREIGHTER  CARRIES  ORE,  COAL  AND    GRAIN 

steam  cargo  pumps,  and  her  windlass  and  cargo  winches  are  worked 
by  steam. 

Starlite  and  Twilite  were  the  names  given  the  first  motor 
schooners,  which  now  have  swelled  into  a  fleet  of  both  steel  and  wooden 
schooners  of  this  desigTi.  Designed  by  Cox  and  Stevens,  of  New  York, 
they  were  built  by  the  Toledo  Shipbuilding  Company  for  the  Standard 
Oil  fleet.  Their  four  masts  are  without  topmasts,  and  sailormen  on 
the  Pacific  Coast  long  ago  dubbed  such  schooners  as  bald-headed 
schooners.  From  their  berth  on  the  Great  Lakes  these  motor-driven 
craft  were  delivered  in  salt  water.  Since  that  delivery  the  same  naval 
architects  have  planned  many  in  both  steel  and  wood  for  both  coasts. 
They  marked  a  great  advance  in  the  cheaper  transportation  of  cargo, 
and  with  their  fore-and-aft  sails  alone  are  capable  of  good  speed.    The 


140  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

machinery,  as  in  many  other  modern  cargo  cari-iers,  is  aft,  and  they 
have  a  single  deck  for  the  cargo  of  oil,  which  is  carried  mainly  in 
three  center  line  hatches,  each  eqni})ped  with  its  winch  and  cargo 
boom. 

An  excellent  type  of  the  general  cargo  carrier  is  the  Edgar  F. 
Luckenhach,  a  prodnct  of  the  Newport  News  Slujjbuilding  Company. 
She  is  a  single-screw  steel  freighter  with  machinery  amidships.  Steel 
bulkheads  divide  her  into  four  large  cargo  holds,  each  of  v/hLch  is 
loaded  and  discharged  through  two  large  hatchways.  With  her  length 
of  425  feet,  beam  of  57  and  draft  of  28,  the  Luckenhach  is  at  the  same 
time  a  freighter  of  staunch  build  and  graceful  lines. 

Out  on  the  Pacific  Coast  two  of  the  most  interesting  types  with 
which  the  West  is  helping  restore  our  merchant  marine  to  its  old  rank 
are  the  modern  lumber  schooner  and  the  tanker.  For  years  schooners 
have  carried  the  bulk  of  the  Pacific  lumber  trade.  So  well  designed 
were  the  early  ones  that  there  have  been  few  changes  in  their  design 
since  except  in  increasing  size.  They  must  carry  heavy  deck-loads, 
enter  shoal  harbors,  and  make  headway  against  head  winds  when 
running  light.  Along  these  lines  they  have  been  planned  with  great 
success.  The  Henry  T.  Scott,  launched  at  the  Union  Iron  Works,  is 
one  of  the  latest,  and  a  modern  steam  steel  schooner  she  is,  with  her 
bald-headed,  two-masted  schooner  rig,  innocent  of  a  bowsprit.  Her 
single  deck  is  of  steel  and  her  machinery  is  aft.  With  oil  for  fuel  the 
Henry  T.  Scott's  sea  speed  when  loaded  is  ten  knots.  In  beam  and 
draft  she  is  much  like  the  Starlite  type  but  25  feet  shorter  overall. 

The  Panhboro  is  one  of  the  latest  West  Coast  tankers,  in  the 
sei'vice  of  the  Vacuum  Oil  Company,  and  is  of  the  same  general 
dimensions  as  the  Edgar  F.  Luckenhach.  A  four-foot  cofferdam  sep- 
arates her  fuel  oil  from  the  eighteen  main  oil  tanks,  and  she  is  also 
fitted  with  ten  summer  tanks  between  decks  to  fit  her  for  the  demands 
of  the  oil-carrying  trade.  Extra  heavy  duty  ])umps  handle  her  big 
cargo  of  oil. 

While  the  ship-building  industry  of  the  two  coasts  languished, 
only  to  be  revived  by  the  European  War.  the  Gi-eat  Lakes  had  for 
years  turned  out  a  prodigious  amount  of  craft.  Steel  freighters  of 
all  types,  great  side-wheel  passenger  and  freight  steamers,  ice- 
crushers,  car-ferries,  barges,  tugs,  yachts  and  sandsuckers  have  given 
the  Great  Lakes  a  tonnage  that  eclipses  that  which  clears  and  arrives 
in  any  of  the  great  seaports  of  the  world.  And  the  boom  that  came 
with  the  war  found  the  lake  shipyards  well-equipi^ed  to  hurry  to  salt 
water  vessels  of  every  sort  to  help  reap  the  high  fi-eight  charges. 


FREIGHTERS  HELD  UP  BY  A  SLIDE  IN  PANAMA  CANAL 


[S^I 

fi^K 

'^A'llA'        *mlmSiU 

M^Miii^lEfe^^ 

^k%  MMiHfeiMBff^OTM 

SSj^Kt^^^iiP^i^^^^^S" 

Kl  jynNB^^^j^^B 

^^^gff^K  t:^pMM| 

UImB^S^^^^Sm 

HBPr  ^^^^If  ^^"^^^  "^ 

mB^m^^^Sfi 

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^Bk^  -^v^^IH 

^^^HK_^^j[^a^Kf^^^^^^9HR^|t  ;3H 

^BtlvC^ 

^E^IBI 

^B\^\  x'^^ 

THE  DECK  OF  A  FREIGHTER 
141 


142  THE  ^rARVRT.  ROOK  OF  AMERTCAX  SHIPS 


'fh 

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\/v 

-ir 

/^  h 

iKX.^^^i  ■ 

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iMl^^r--^ 

y, ..»,-__,    1.  :~7f1'T7ncl 

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^te^--*l 

^p  -  _  • 

— "^        "■                             i- 

TilK       KDITH       IS  A  MODERN  THAMI' 

The  history  of  t^hipping  on  the  Great  Lakes,  from  the  canoes  of 
the  Indian  and  French  traders  until  the  mammoth  orecarriers  of 
to-day,  is  full  of  romantic  interest.  Like  the  ocean,  it  had  its  first 
sailing-  vessel  and  its  first  steamer,  and  the  Battle  of  Lake  Erie  has 
gone  down  into  history  among  the  memorable  naval  engagements. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  bits  of  the  story  of  these  great  fresh- 
water oceans  lies  in  the  impetus  that  was  given  to  its  early  shipping 
by  the  French  voyageur  La  Salle.  He  built  the  first  trading  ship  in 
1679,  near  Buffalo.  When  the  Government  engineers  began  the  con- 
struction of  the  locks  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  where  Lakes  Superior  and 
Huron  mingle  their  waters,  they  found  an  old  canal,  with  its  single 
lock,  that  La  Salle  had  built  200  years  before  to  carry  bateaux  and 
canoes  around  the  falls  of  the  Ste.  Marie.     Now  the  tonnage  that 

passes  through  the 
Soo  in  a  year  is 
three  times  that 
which  the  Suez 
Canal  can  boast. 
For  each  vessel 
that  takes  the 
short  cut  between 
the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Red  Sea 
five  use  the  Soo. 
Detroit,  however, 
half-way  between 
Lakes   Huron   j^id 


FREIGHT  CARRIERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  MARINE     143 


Erie,  is  the  greatest  highway  for  ships  in  all  the  world.  When  Ant- 
werp led  the  seaports  just  before  the  European  War  with  nearly 
30,000,000  of  net  freight  tonnage  in  a  year,  Detroit  more  than  doubled 
her  record.  In  ship-building,  too,  Detroit  leads  all  the  lakes  in  the  out- 
put of  her  shipyards. 

The  lake  shipyards  not 
only  turn  out  the  fleets  for 
the  lakes  but  steamers  and 
barges  for  the  Atlantic  trade 
that  find  their  way  into 
every  sea.  At  one  time 
great  fleets  of  three-masted 
schooners  carried  the  grain 
of  the  Great  Lakes,  but  now 
immense  steel  bulk  freight- 
ers have  driven  them  to  the 
wall.  Few  wooden  ships  are 
built  there;  little  but  steel 
and  iron.  The  first  modern 
steamers  were  the  coars(> 
freight  wooden  steamers  of 
the  '70's,  followed  in  tlie 
next  decade  by  the  steam 
barge  and  its  double  tow. 
Iron  steamers  for  the  ore 
trade  came  next  and  then 
tlie  steel  freighter. 

The  orecarriers  are  the 
largest  fresh-watei'  vessels 
in  the  world,  and  few  ships 
that  sail  the  high  seas  are 
larger.  IModern  ore-hand- 
ling machinery  operates   in 

their  roomy  holds  down  through  hatches,  lifting  out  the  ore  in  clam- 
shell buckets ;  and  the  holds  are  clean  of  stanchions  and  stringers,  so 
that,  in  reality,  they  are  immense  steel  barges.  Each  carries  what  the 
whole  fleet  of  sailing  vessels  once  held. 

The  lake  freighters  are  divided  into  two  great  classes:  the  bulk 
freighters  for  ore,  coal  and  grain,  and  the  package  freighters  in  which 
miscellaneous  cargo  is  stowed.  The  Marquette  S  Bessemer  No.  i  is  a 
good  type  of  the  bulk  freighter.     Coal  cars  run  on  its  deck  and  are 


THE    BULL    TRAMP    STEAMER    "  CORNELLS " 
HER  CARGO  BOOMS 


144  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

emptied  into  the  yawning  hold.  The  Harvester  is  typical  of  the  lar.ii- 
est  orecarriers  with  its  tremendous  cargo  capacity,  its  stack  and 
machinery  well  aft,  and  its  huge  bow. 

Much  of  the  oil  carried  on  the  Great  Lakes  was  at  one  time  trans- 
ported in  the  whalebacks,  most  curious  of  all  lake  vessels.  They 
were  cigar-shaped,  with  decks  rounded  like  a  whale's  back,  and  but  a 
few  feet  above  water.  Since  1900  no  whalebacks  have  been  built. 
The  modern  oilcarrier  in  these  waters  is  a  trim  steamer,  remark- 
able for  the  flying  bridge  that  runs  fore  and  aft  almost  for  its  entire 
length,  and  with  squat  expansion  tanks  jutting  up  above  deck.  Bald- 
headed  schooner  barges  carry  their  share  of  the  oil  also,  being 
towed  by  steamers,  and  most  of  them  find  their  way  to  the  ocean  oil 
fleet. 

Truly  typical  of  the  lake  traffic  are  the  side-wheel  and  stern- 
wheel  paddle  steamers  for  both  passenger  and  freight  traffic.  Most 
of  the  latter  are  of  shallow  draft,  built  on  the  lakes,  knocked  down 
and  shipped  by  rail  to  interior  lakes,  there  to  be  assembled  and  re- 
launched. First  of  all  steamers  to  ply  the  Great  Lakes  was  the  side- 
wheeler  Walk-'m-the-Water,  built  one  hundred  years  ago.  Nowhere 
else  has  the  side-wheeler  been  developed  as  on  the  lakes,  even  the 
Mississippi  River  steamers  being  pygmies  in  comparison. 

The  Great  Lakes  are  the  scene  of  terrific  gales,  and  its  craft  are 
sturdily  built,  for  they  must  not  only  buffet  wind  and  sea  but  fight  ice 
in  the  winter.  They  are  American  ships  in  every  sense  of  the  word 
despite  the  fact  that  many  of  them  never  venture  on  salt  water,  and 
the  history  of  shipping  there  is  a  bright  page  in  the  annals  of  our 
merchant  marine. 

There  are  no  more  interesting  craft  on  the  face  of  the  waters  than 
the  tramp  steamer.  Dingy  and  unkem])t  as  a  rule,  they  are  giving 
way  to  smarter  ships,  and  desjnte  their  humlile  apjiearance  there  is 
no  ship  to  which  the  romance  of  the  sea  has  clung  so  tenaciously. 
A  tramp  will  run  anywhere,  combing  the  coast  and  the  transatlantic 
routes  for  work,  scorning  risks  that  would  ajjpal  the  average  skipper. 
Be  it  potatoes  or  dynamite,  molasses  or  railroad  rails,  it  is  all  in  the 
day's  work  for  the  tramp  steamer.  If  she  carries  grain  and  a  leak 
develops,  the  swelling  of  her  cargo  will  burst  out  her  plates.  She  runs 
the  risk  of  fire  with  her  load  of  dynamite  or  cotton.  Railroad  iron 
rails  and  lumber  are  prone  to  shift  and  pound  out  her  sides.  But  the 
tramp  takes  tliem  all.  She  is  the  vagabond  of  the  sea,  picking  up  her 
cargo  where  she  may,  indifl"erent  to  where  it  takes  her.  And  the 
tramp  made  its  harvest  when  the  demand  for  ship  bottoms  grew,    She. 


145 


146 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  A:\IERTCAN  STTTPS 


carries  her  engines  sometimes  aft  and  sometimes  amidships. 
Stamiclily  built  as  she  is,  many  a  tramp  is  lost  at  sea  through  hazards 
that  other  cargo  carriers  do  not  face. 

The  story  of  the  first  American  tramp  steamer  is  well  worth 
knowing,  for  the  Winifred  led  to  a  fleet  of  fine  tramps  which  were  the 
first  to  dispute  the  monopoly  enjoyed  for  years  by  foreign  tramii 
steamers.  When  the  shipping  firm  of  A.  H.  Bull  &  Company  of 
New  York  built  the  Winifred  at  Bath,  Maine,  in  181)8,  it  was  a  risky 
venture.  She  ended  as  a  tanker  on  the  Great  Lakes,  for  she  was  too 
expensive  to  operate  as  a  tramp.     Then  the  same  company  built  the 

Jean  at  New^port 
News  and  proved 
to  a  skeptical  ship- 
ping fraternity 
that  it  was  possible 
to  build  a  success- 
ful tramp  in  this 
country.  ITor  en- 
H'ines,  shafts,  cyl- 
inders, and  other 
])arts  were  built  to 
standard  type  in 
different  parts  of 
the  United  States 
and  then  assem- 
bled at  the  ship- 
yard. Now  it  is 
no  longer  necessary  to  follow  out  this  troul)lesome  method,  for  the 
tramps  that  followed  led  shipbuilders  to  provide  for  all  pai'ts  at  their 
own  yards.  This  company  now  operates  a  fine  fleet  of  fifteen  tramps — • 
glorified  tramps  when  compared  to  the  foreign  type.  Four  make  regu- 
lar runs  between  Porto  Rico  and  other  ports  while  the  rest  range  from 
Rio  to  Mobile,  Buenos  Aires  to  New  England,  or  from  the  West  Indies 
to  Norfolk,  wherever  their  o^WTiers  find  freight  waiting  for  them.  Two 
were  sunk  by  mines  in  the  North  Sea  while  under  charter  to  this 
company. 

There  are  still  other  types  of  cargo  boats  which  are  built  for  one 
trade  like  the  ore  boat  of  the  Great  Lakes,  the  bald-headed  lumber 
schooner  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  the  motor-driven  tanker.  There 
are  tankers  that  carry  molasses  from  the  cane-fields  of  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico  to  all  ports  of  the  world,  and  there  is  a  handsome  fleets 


1 


THE  TYPE  OF  GUN  THAT  AR.MED  MERCHANTMEN   ARE    BEING 
ARMED  WITH 


FREIGHT  CARRIERS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  MARINE     147 

that  carries  forty  million  bunches  of  bananas  from  Central  American 
ports  to  the  United  States  yearly. 

With  single  decks  for  bulk  freight  and  double  decks  for  fruit  and 
general  cargo  their  hulls  quiver  to  the  throb  of  winches,  the  groaning 
of  cargo  booms  and  the  tramp  of  stevedores.  Some  fly  the  house  flag 
of  a  powerful  line  and  others  only  the  pennant  of  their  single  owner, 
but  all  are  united  in  the  drive  to  put  the  American  flag  back  on  the 
seas  and  to  outstrip  the  other  nations  in  carrying  the  trade  of  the 
world.  On  the  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf  trade,  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  the 
Great  Lakes,  and  western  rivers,  and  on  every  sea,  the  drive  is  on. 
In  the  second  year  of  the  European  War  this  American  fleet  was 
added  to  by  double  the  tonnage  that  its  iirst  year  reaped.  With  proper 
shipping  laws  that  will  allow  American  merchantmen  to  suffer  no 
handicaps  from  foreign  governments'  regulations,  there  is  no  reason 
why  the  remarkable  growth  should  not  be  a  permanent  one. 


THE  OLD  SCHOOLSHIP      ST.  MARY  S 


XIII 
OUR    NAUTICAL    TRAINING    SHIPS 

THPj  past  few  years  have  seen  a  reniaikalile  advance  in  American 
shipping.  Its  growth  and  prosperity  have  recalled  the  halcyon 
days  of  the  middle  of  the  past  century.  The  increase  in  our 
forei.gn  tonnage,  the  activities  in  our  shipyards  and  the  development 
of  a  great  coast-to-coast  trade  tlirough  the  Panama  Canal,  all  have 
quickened  public  interest  in  matters  of  the  sea.  As  this  interest  has 
expanded  and  shown  the  vital  needs  of  the  merchant  marine,  so  the 
public  has  been  attracted  more  than  ever  to  the  part  that  our  nautical 
state  schools  play  in  upbuilding  the  supremacy  of  the  American  flag 
on  the  high  seas. 

The  first  step  taken  to  provide  nautical  schools,  so  that  in  time 
the  American  merchant  marine  could  be  manned  and  commanded  by 
trained  Americans,  was  taken  by  Congress  in  1874.     On  June  20th  of 

148 


OUR  NAUTICAL  TRAINING  SHIPS 


149 


EXERCISING  UNDER  OARS 


that  year,  when  our  shipping  was  at  low  ebb,  Congress  voted  power 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  promote  nautical  education  by  furnish- 
ing states  on  the  seaboard  with  ships  and  equipment  to  instruct  the 
youth  in  their  borders  in  navigation,  steamship  marine  engineering, 


ENGINEERING  DUTIES  ON  THE  " NEWPORT" 


150  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

and  electricity.  Until  tlifii  the  only  avenue  to  a  sea-faring  life  was 
through  the  forecastle,  with  its  meager  pay,  poor  fare,  hard  knocks, 
and  privations.  In  that  same  year  the  city  of  New  York  established 
its  nautical  school  with  the  old  St.  Mary's,  a  noted  man-o'-war  in  her 
time. 

Massachusetts  followed  in  1891,  wisely  placing  its  school  under 
the  control  of  the  state,  and  receiving  from  the  Navy  tlie  bark-rigged 
steamer  Enterprise.  It  was  in  1913  that  the  New  York  Nautical  School 
passed  into  the  state's  control  and  became  firmly  established  with  a 
liberal  appropriation  to  carry  out  its  aims. 

To-day  the  Massachusetts  Nautical  School  has  as  its  training  ship 
the  famous  old  Ranger,  a  barkentine-rigged,  single-screw  steamer 
which  was  one  of  the  first  iron  ships  of  the  United  States  Navy.  She 
was  originally  fore-and-aft  rigged  and  a  sister  ship  of  the  U.S.S. 
Huron,  lost  at  sea  off  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  in  1877.  She  is 
commanded  by  Captain  P.  W.  Hourigan,  a  retired  naval  officer  of 
distinction.  The  New  York  nautical  cadets  sw^ing  their  hammocks  on 
the  Newport,  still  carried  as  a  gunboat  on  the  Navj'  list,  and  her 
captain  is  a  graduate  of  the  New  York  Nautical  School,  Captain 
F.  S.  McMurray.  A  retired  Commander  of  the  Navy,  C.  H.  Mathews, 
is  her  chief  engineer. 

The  other  states  have  lagged  behind,  but  the  cruise  of  the  Newport 
to  the  Pacific  Coast  in  1915,  when  she  was  held  up  on  that  coast  for 
three  months  by  slides  blocking  the  Panama  Canal,  stirred  the  Pacific 
states  to  serious  agitation  for  nautical  sclioolships  along  the  same  line. 

To  enter  either  of  the  two  schools  a  boy  must  be  a  resident  of  the 
state,  between  16  and  20  years  of  age,  and  pass  a  mental  examination 
such  as  is  required  to  enter  the  high  schools  of  that  state.  He  must 
also  be  of  rugged  physique  and  undaunted  by  the  work  and  hardships 
of  the  seafaring  life  that  it  is  his  ambition  to  lead.  There  is  a  deposit 
of  $85  to  cover  the  cost  of  blue  and  white  uniforms  and  the  technical 
textbooks  required  at  entrance;  but  once  he  has  put  on  the  uniform 
of  the  Ranger  or  the  Newport  the  state  pays  all  his  expenses  and 
gives  him  a  training  that  will  fit  him  for  an  officer's  duties  on  the 
deck  or  in  the  engine-room  of  a  modern  steamship. 

A  well-rounded  officer,  whether  he  is  a  deck  or  engineer  officer, 
must  have  training  in  both  branches  of  the  sea.  He  will  not  make  a 
good  engineer  unless  he  has  first  acquired  the  "sea  habit"  by  i)re- 
liminary  training  as  a  seaman.  And  to  make  a  first-class  deck  officer 
and  be  fit  to  command  his  own  ship,  he  must  know  much  of  its 
machinery.    He  must  learn  enough  of  machinery  to  weigh  anchor  and 


Phot,}  l-j  Brawn  Hrolhcrs,  N-    )'. 


SAIL  DUII>L   USINC  TITK  MONKEY   YARD 


SmaWs,  Buzzard  Bay,  Photographer 

THE  NEW  YORK  SCHOOLSHIP  "  NEWPORT"  IN  CAPE  COD  CANAL 
151 


Phuco  by  StM 


FURLING    SAIL    <i\ 
152 


OUR  NAUTICAL  TRAINING  SHIPS 


153 


to  hoist  in  and  out 
cargo  and  boats,  and 
know  something  in  ad- 
dition of  the  main  as 
well  as  the  auxiliary 
engines  of  his  ship. 

The  course  at  both 
the  nautical  schools  is 
founded  on  that  sound 
idea.  In  their  iirst 
year  as  nautical  cadets 
the  duties  of  a  seaman 
are  taught  to  all.  In 
the  second  year  they 
are  divided  into  sea- 
men cadets  and  engi- 
neering cadets  and 
specialize  that  last 
year  in  the  duties  as- 
signed. 

The  year  in  the  nau- 
tical schools  begins 
with  the  winter  term, 
running  from  Novem- 
ber to  April.  The 
ships  are  moored 
alongside     roomy 


P)ioto  by  Brown  Brother: 
SHOOTING 


,  N.  Y. 

THE  SUN  ON  THE  "  NEWPORT' 


LIFE   BOAT  DRILL 


docks,  with  reci- 
tation halls  a  n  d 
sails  and  rigging 
lofts  for  the  win- 
ter 's  theoreti- 
cal work,  while  the 
cadets  live  aboard 
shi]).  The  day  be- 
gins with  reveille 
at  6:30  o'clock  and 
until  inspection  at 
9  o'clock  the  ap- 
prentices to  the  sea 
are  busy  lashing 


ir)4 


Till-;  MARVEL   I'.OOK  (»!•'  A.MKRICAN  SHIPS 


Phi:to  bu  Stanlru  W    ToM 

INHrRUCTION  IN  DEEP  SEA  SOUNDING 

are  piped  down  at  9  o'clock  and 
the  young  sailoi's  turn  in  for  the 
night. 

With  the  last  of  April  conies 
the  most  welcome  day  of  the 
year,  when  the  Ranger  and  the 
Neicport  cast  off  from  the  docks 
to  which  they  have  been  moored 
all  winter  long,  and  turn  their 
bows  to  the  south  for  the  summer 
cruise.  It  lasts  fr.om  four  to 
five  months,  and  underway  and 
in  port  it  is  devoted  to  practical 
work  done.  Before  the  Euro- 
pean War  made  cruising  in  those 
waters  inadvisable,  the  two  train- 
ing ships  had  cruised  to  the  ^ledi- 
terranean,  to  England,  and  fa- 
mous ports  of  western  Europe. 
But  war  and  the  advantage  of  a 
long  deepsea  cruise  turned  the 
prow  of  the  Neivport  to  a  re- 
markable cruise  in  1915.  lli'i- 
itinerary   took   her   through   the 


and  stowing  ham- 
mocks, washing 
d  own,  preparing 
their  quarters  for 
inspection,  and  at 
breakfast.  After 
the  inspection  at  9 
o'clock — for  naval 
discipline  is  the 
model  of  the  nauti- 
cal ships — runs  a 
day  of  study  and 
recitation,  w  i  t  h 
recreation  periods, 
until    hammocks 


LEAK.NINCi   THE   USE  OF  THE  SEXIANT 


Pholo  by  BroiDn  Brothers.  N.   Y. 


CADETS  IN  THE  SAIL  LOFT 


UTi 


Pliulu  by  lir;wn  brolh,r.<.  A     1 . 


KNOTS  AND  SPLICES  IN  THE  RIGGING  LOFT 
155 


THE  MASSACHUSETTS  NAUTICAL  S( ' 1,-1 1 1 1'  ' '  i;  \  \' ■  I ,  K 


SETTING  THE  SPANKER 
15G 


OUR  NAUTICAL  TRAINING  SHIPS 


157 


Panama  Canal  and  as  far  west  in  the  broad  Pacific  as  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands,  and  then  along  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  Banger  made 
several  of  the  most  interesting  ports  of  the  West  Indies,  and,  stop- 
ping at  Colon,  her  cadets  made  the  passage  of  the  Canal  in  two  steam- 
ships. In  their  ship's  boats  they  also  visited  the  Gatun  Locks  to  learn 
the  construction  and  operation  of  the  canal  locks  there.  Leaving  Colon, 
the  Ranger  coasted 
north  to  New  Eng- 
land, with  stops  at 
various  ports  and 
well-known  training 
grounds. 

The  work  at 
sea  is  very  interest- 
ing and  covers  a 
great  deal  of  prac- 
tical ground.  The 
cadets  of  the  third 
and  fourth  classes 
learn  the  ship  and 
its  gear,  work  aloft 
in  the  handling  of 
sail,  and  are  taught 
the  use  of  the  sounding  machine,  coasting  lead,  and  ship's  log.  They 
take  their  watch  as  lookouts,  their  tricks  at  the  wheel,  and  learn  signal- 
ing with  the  semaphore.  In  port  the  handling  of  small  boats  under 
oars  and  sail,  and  swimming  are  on  the  daily  routine.  In  secluded 
training  grounds  they  go  ashore  for  rifle  practice ;  and  besides  all  this 
they  apply  themselves  to  the  more  prosaic  tasks  of  painting  the  ship 
and  caring  for  her  hull  and  rigging  in  other  ways. 

The  first  and  second  classes  are  trained  as  deck  and  petty  officers. 
They  stand  regular  watches  and  carry  out  the  exacting  routine  of  a 
quartermaster  and  a  boatswain 's^mate  at  sea  and  in  port.  They  steer 
by  compass,  by  the  wind,  and  study  the  art  of  piloting.  They  also 
become  proficient  in  sending  and  receiving  radio  messages.  The 
Ranger's  cadets  made  the  Pollock  Rip  Lightship  on  the  1915  cruise  in 
a  fog  by  the  use  of  the  submarine  signaling  apparatus. 

The  cadets  of  the  engineer  division  carry  out  their  duties  below 
in  the  same  thorough  manner.  When  the  ships  put  back  to  their  1  .inie 
ports  the  sea-bronzed  cadets  have  learned  much  in  a  way  that  no 
other  method  could  rival.    On  the  cruise  of  the  Newport  in  1915  to  the 


THE  NEWPORT  CADETS  AT  MESS 


158  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

Azores,  when  her  engines  were  disabled,  they  made  the  long  run  home 
under  sail.  At  Bermuda  a  big  freighter  was  short  its  second  officer 
and  that  vacancy  was  tilled  from  the  crew  of  the  nautical  schoolship. 

After  graduation  there  are  many  openings  waiting  for  the  nautical 
school  graduates.  Some  are  now  commissioned  officers  of  the  Navy, 
Marine  Corps,  or  Coast  Guard.  Others  are  engaged  as  pilots  or 
engineers  in  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission;  and  still  others  find 
berths  in  the  Government's  Steamboat  Inspection  Service.  The  great 
bulk  of  them  enter  the  merchant  marine  as  subordinate  officers,  and 
many  are  now  walking  the  deck  of  a  fine  liner  or  freighter  as  her 
captain.  In  the  Spanish-American  War  more  than  a  hundred  served 
their  country  as  volunteer  officers  or  petty  officers  of  the  Navy.  To-day 
they  could  place  twice  their  number  of  graduates  in  fine  positions  at 
sea  if  the  two  nautical  schoolships  had  the  facilities  to  turn  out  so 
many. 

Both  schools  have  seen  a  steady  and  constant  improvement  in 
courses  and  equipments,  and  those  who  have  promoted  this  patriotic 
work  have  had  always  in  view  the  increase  of  our  sea  strength. 
Their  graduates  rank  as  the  best  officers  in  our  merchant  marine  and 
have  pointed  the  way,  through  the  increase  of  these  splendid  schools, 
to  making  the  nation's  sea  power  felt,  not  only  in  her  merchant  ma- 
rine, but  in  her  naval  reserve  in  time  of  war. 


ON  TlIK  RIFLE  RANGE 


XIV 


THE   MAKING  OF  A  MAN-O'-WAR'S-MAN 


WHEN  the  United  States  Navy  changed  from  its  wooden  walls 
and  muzzle-loading  batteries  to  walls  of  steel  and  breech- 
loading  gims,  and  steam  supplanted  sail,  the  old  mossbacks 
shook  their  heads  and  coined  the  maxim:  "Wooden  ships  and  iron 
men;  iron  ships  and  wooden  men."  They  had  joined  a  line-of -battle 
ship  without  any  training  ashore  and  learned  the  craft  of  a  sailor 
by  hard  knocks.  For  a  sailor  of  the  old  days  to  pass  through  one  of 
the  modern  naval  training  stations  where  Uncle  Sam  turns  out  his 
sea-fighters  to-day  would  be  as  hard  as  taking  a  degree  at  a  large 
university. 

The  modern  sailor  knows  little  of  royals  or  topgallants 'Is  or 
laying  aloft  in  a  gale  to  pass  a  bunt  lashing,  but  when  he  has  finished 
his  training  as  an  apprentice  seaman  he  is  fit  to  take  his  place  in 
a  ship's  company  that  makes  its  ci"uise  on  a  man-of-war  equipped 
with  intricate  machinery,  with  high-powered  guns,  and  the  latest  in 
both  steam  and  electrical  devices.  He  must  know  something  of  sea- 
manship, gunnery,  electricity,  mechanics,  ordnance,  and  sigiialing. 
In  one  of  these  branches  he  must  specialize  through  his  four  years' 
cruise;  and  he  must  be  more  or  less  familiar  with  good  English,  math- 
ematics, geograph}^  and  the  historj^  of  his  country.  The  training- 
station  course  has  opened  to  him  the  royal  road  to  promotion,  either 
for  an  appointment  to  the  Naval  Academy  as  a  midshipman  or,  if  he 

159 


160  THE  ^klARVEL  BOOK  OF  A5IERICAX  SHIPS 

has  passed  the  age  limit  for  Annapolis,  as  a  commissioned  officer  after 
he  has  reached  the  grade  of  warrant  officer. 

The  oldest  of  all  our  training  stations  is  that  at  Newport,  Rhode 
Island,  and  it  has  proved  such  a  success  in  giving  the  Fleet  a  trained 
body  of  apprentice  seamen  that  training  stations  have  since  been 
opened  at  San  Francisco  for  the  recruits  enlisted  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
and  west  of  the  Mississippi,  one  on  the  Gi-eat  Lakes  near  Chicago  for 
the  Middle  West,  and  another  at  Norfolk,  Virginia.  All  have  been 
patterned  after  the  Newport  Training  Station. 

The  average  American  knows  Newport  only  as  our  most  fashion- 
able watering  place,  where  society  builds  its  costly  villas,  and  where 
the  great  fleet  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club  rendezvouses  each  summer 
for  its  annual  cruise  and  races.  On  Coaster's  Harbor  Island,  where 
the  oldest  vessel  of  our  Navy,  the  frigate  Constellation,  is  moored, 
are  a  group  of  buildings  and  athletic  fields  that  would  be  a  credit  to 
any  American  college.  Its  setting  is  picturesque,  and  tlie  salt  breezes 
that  rule  there  all  year  round  have  much  to  do  with  building  up 
the  physiques  of  the  recruits  who  are  sent  there,  and  in  giving  it  the 
proper  deep-sea  atmosphere  that  follows  them  through  their  life  in 
the  Navy.  Drill  grounds  that  hold  a  brigade  and  target  ranges 
equipped  with  every  facility  for  rifle  and  pistol  firing  complete  the 
spot  where  the  foundation  of  the  training  of  our  American  bluejacket 
is  laid. 

All  recruits  enlisted  in  the  Navy  between  seventeen  and  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  who  have  no  skilled  trade,  such  as  machinists  or 
electricians,  are  sent  to  one  of  the  stations  for  training  as  apprentice 
seamen.  On  his  arrival  the  budding  sailorman  is  quartered  in  what 
is  known  as  the  recruit  or  detention  barracks  for  his  first  three  weeks' 
training.  An  outbreak  of  contagious  diseases,  such  as  mumps  or 
measles,  is  by  this  plan  kept  from  spreading  through  the  station. 
He  is  mustered  into  a  company  of  ninety  recruits  under  a  petty  officer 
and  taught  first  the  spotless  habits  that  follow  him  through  his  cruise. 
Cleanliness  of  body  is  begun  with  a  daily  shower-bath,  and  the  $00 
uniform  which  the  Government  issues  him  without  charge,  his  bed- 
ding, bag,  and  hammock,  and  all  his  equipment  must  be  cared  for  so 
that  it  passes  a  daily  inspection.  This  inspection  goes  to  the  point 
where  the  recruit  must  satisfy  his  instructors  each  day  that  his  under- 
wear is  innnaculate  and  that  his  teetli  June  been  bruslied  and  his  shoes 
shined. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  he  is  examijied  to  see  whether  he  shall  be 
graded  in  the  primary,  intermediate,  grammar,  or  high  school  grade 


Coumsu  uf  "Fleet  R. 


RECEIVING  THE  COLORS  AT  SAN  FRANCISCO  STATION 


1 


Coi(;7,s,.;  nj  "  Fleet  Review" 


TROOPING  THE  COLORS 
162 


THE  MAKING  OP  A  MAN-O'-WAR'S-MAN 


163 


for  daily  instruction,  and  he  is  marched  from  one  class  to  another 
and  to  all  military  formations  and  meals  just  as  the  midshipmen  at 
Ajmapolis  are.  He  beg-ins  his  day  with  reveille  at  5  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  lashes  and  stows 
his  hammock,  and  then 
takes  his  turn  at  the  show- 
er-baths. His  breakfast 
is  inspected  by  an  officer 
and  then,  after  a  hearty 
meal,  comes  his  personal 
inspection.  Sick  call  is  the 
next  step  in  the  day's  rou- 
tine, but  with  each  week 
of  regular,  wholesome  litV 
this  call  of  the  bugle  Id 
"come  get  your  quinine 
and  pills"  becomes  more 
of  a  form  than  anything 
else.  In  the  detention  bar 
racks  he  learns  the  Swed 
ish  physical  drill,  which 
works  such  wonders  in 
building  up  and  straight- 
ening out  the  average  re- 
cruit, and  swimming  is 
taught  and  the  rudiments 
of  squad  and  company 
drill. 

It  is  a  proud  day 
for  the  recruit  when  he 
marches  away  from  the 
detention  barracks  for  the 
rest  of  his  six  months' 
course.  On  the  indoor 
target  range  he  is  ini- 
tiated into  the  use  of  the 
Navy    rifle    and    revolver 

and  made  ready  for  the  outdoor  range,  with  its  changing  winds  and 
shifting  lights,  to  try  his  skill  as  a  marksman. 

He  feels  that  he  is  well  on  his  way  to  the  goal  of  his  ambition 
when  his  company  is  finally  mustered  in  and  marched  down  to  the 


OFF  FUK  THE  FLEET 


in4 


THE  :\rARVEL  BOOK  OF  AAFERICAX  SHIPS 


SKA  HAi;  IXS1'K(    ri().\ 


wharf  whei'e  the 
frigate  Constella- 
tion and  the  brig- 
antine  Boxer  lie. 
He  knows  enongh 
of  his  naval  his- 
tory to  recall  now 
the  stirring  sea 
fights  in  ^\■hich  the 
C  0  n  s  t  e  I  I  a  - 
tion  crushoil  t  h  e 
power  of  the  Cor- 
sairs, w  h  i  c  h  in- 
fested the  Barbary 
coast  early  in  the 
nineteenth  cen- 
tury. He  runs  his  eye  with  a  sailor's  appreciation  over  the  tapering- 
spars  and  beautiful  lines,  and  crosses  the  gangplank  with  a  determina- 
tion to  make  short  work  of  the  mysteries  of  the  seamanship  that  await 
him.  Here  he  learns  how  to  read  a  log  line  and  to  handle  the  head  line 
that  later  he  must  heave  while  his  ship  is  creeping  through  a  heavy  fog 
or  in  uncharted  waters.  He  is  taught  how  to  box  the  compass  and  to 
steer,  to  bend  a  hawser  and  handle  a  heaving  line,  to  sew  canvas,  and 
all  the  fascinations  of  knots  and  splices  are  here  revealed  to  him. 

With  a  small 
fleet  of  cutters  and 
launches  and 
whaleboats  the  re- 
cruit begins  the 
training  that  fits 
him  to  handle  them 
under  sail  and  un- 
der oars,  and 
strives  to  outdo  the 
boats  of  other  com- 
panies in  making  a 
clean  landing  at  a 
dock,  in  tossing 
oars  in  salute  to  a 
passing  officer,  or 
boating     them  learning  the  points  ok  the  compass 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  MAN-O'-WAR'S-MAN 


16^ 


CUTTER  DRILL  UNDER  OARS 


smartly  as  the  gun- 
wale slides  along 
the  gangway  of  a 
ship  at  a  n  c  h  o  r. 
W  i  t  li  gunwales 
under  in  a  stiff 
breeze,  or  landing 
in  the  surf  to  carry 
out  an  attack  on  an 
entrenched  enemy, 
and  the  rivalry  of 
races  with  other 
cutter  crews,  he 
looks  forward  to  those  exercises  more  keenly  than  to  any  other  inci- 
dents of  his  life  at  the  training  station. 

Signals  play  a  big  part  in  the  modern  navy,  and  the  training  in 
this  branch  follows  the  recruit's  work  in  battleship  seamanship. 
Hardly  has  he  tumbled  out  of  his  hammock,  swung  eight  feet  above 
the  ground  from  hooks  ten  feet  apart,  before  he  casts  a  weather  eye 
at  the  signal  mast,  which  is  visible  from  all  the  barracks.  The  first 
hoist  displayed  on  it,  in  a  colorful  string  of  bunting,  is  the  signal  that 
tells  every  officer  and  man  at  the  station  what  the  uniform  for  the 
day  is.  Scattered  about  the  big  drill  ground  are  squads  armed  with 
small  signal  flags,  and  back  and  forth  flash  messages  and  answers 
until  the  apprentice  seaman  can  send  and  receive  messages  as  quickly 
as  hand  and  eye  can  work.     At  night  he  learns  Avhat  the  blinking 

white  lights  and 
rows  of  colored 
lights  mean,  a  n  d 
when  he  reports 
aboard  li  i  s  first 
ship  the  talk  of  the 
fleet  by  day  and 
night  is  an  open 
book  to  him. 

The  dashing 
artillery  drill,  with 
the  three-inch  na- 
val guns  which  our 
ships   send   ashore 

NAVY  HOSPITAL  CORPS  STRETCHER  DRILL  lu     trOUblcd    LatlU- 


166  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

American  ports,  or  for  the  protection  of  a  consulate  in  the  Far  East, 
is  the  most  popular  of  all  the  drills  that  come  when  the  recruit  takes 
up  his  gunnery  and  ordnance  course.  He  is  taught  how  to  take  apart 
and  assemble  his  rifle  and  automatic  pistol,  and  the  guns  of  the  second- 
ary battery,  which  are  a  ship's  defense  against  night  torpedo  attacks, 
are  his  to  drill  and  learn.  Tlien  conies  the  instruction  in  the  mysteries 
of  shells  and  fuses  and  the  smokeless  powder  used  by  the  Navy, 
and  gun  sights  and  telescopes  are  explained  to  him  by  expert 
gunners. 

When  his  mates  have  mastered  the  company  and  battalion  drills 
they  are  marched  out  into  the  rolling  countryside  and  are  formed  for 
an  attack  on  an  enemy  position.  Out  go  the  scouts,  then  the  thin 
firing  line  with  its  supports  and  reserves  ready  to  feed  it  in  time  to 
give  it  the  impetus  for  the  stirring  charge.  Here  and  there  certain 
men  fall  out,  are  given  first  aid  for  a  simulated  wound,  or  carried 
away  by  the  stretcher  men.  The  crack  of  blank  ammunition  grows 
into  a  roar,  the  supports  rush  up  to  fill  the  gaps  and  along  the  line 
goes  the  word,  "Fix  bayonets!"  Hardly  has  the  rattle  of  the  long 
knife-like  bayonets  died  out  before  the  bugle  sounds  its  thrilling  sum- 
mons, and  with  a  lusty  cheer  the  battalion  sweeps  over  the  ground  in 
an  impetuous  charge. 

One  of  the  most  picturesque  of  all  the  drills  is  the  street  riot 
drill,  with  its  use  of  the  hollow  square,  that  moves  along,  ready  at  the 
word  of  command  to  burst  into  volley-firing  on  all  four  sides  or  to 
open  and  unmask  the  three-inch  field  pieces  dragged  within  its  walls. 

The  day  ends  with  a  dress  parade  or  review,  with  its  battalions 
stiff  at  attention;  its  long  line  of  officers  marching  toward  the  brigade 
commander  at  the  order,  "Officers  front  and  center.  March!",  the 
long  line  of  rifles  moving  like  one  piece  through  the  manual  of  arms ; 
and  then  the  rhythmical,  stirring  march  past  in  review  with  each 
company  striving  as  only  young  Americans  can  to  outdo  all  rivals. 

These  and  other  ceremonies,  with  the  colors  flying  and  the  band 
crashing  out  a  lively  march,  live  long  in  the  memories  of  the  appren- 
tice seamen.  Each  morning,  as  the  flag  climbs  slowly  up  the  slim 
flagpole  to  the  shrill  of  the  bugles,  and  each  night,  wlien  the  brigade 
faces  the  lowering  of  the  colors,  and  the  band  plays  Tlie  Star-Spangled 
Banner,  the  apprentice  seaman  learns  a  new  respect  for  his  flag.  His 
daily  drills  teach  him  instant  obedience  and,  surrounded  every  day 
of  his  training  with  trained  officers  and  graduates  of  the  station,  the 
traditions  of  the  American  Navy  are  instilled  in  him.    Navy  surgeons 


KAUKi   IXSTHUCTIUX  AT  THE   N  i:\\  I'Uli  I'  STATION 


THE  BATTALION  IN  (JAMP 

167 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  MAN-O'-WAR'S-MAN 


169 


teach  him  sanitation,  first-aid  help  to  the  sick  or  wounded,  and  they 
take  care  of  the  health  which  the  station  breeds  in  him  with  its  regu- 
lar hours,  its  wholesome  food,  and  its  outdoor  drills  and  sports.  A 
Navy  chaplain  looks  after  his  spiritual  needs,  and  every  day  morning- 
prayers  are  held  as  a  part  of  his  routine  of  development. 

In  the  old  days  of  the  Navy  salt  was  an  unknown  part  of  the 
ration  aboard  ship,  just  as  distilled  water  and  ice-plants  and  electric 
laundries  were  even  undreamed  of.  The  beef  issued  to  the  crews  in 
those  days  was  so  salty  that  it  had  to  be  lowered  over  the  stern  and 
towed  until  it  was 
fit  to  cook,  and 
fresh  vegetables 
ended  in  the  first 
few  days  of  a 
cruise.  The  re- 
cruit of  to-day  has 
his  food  cooked  by 
men  who  have 
taken  a  special 
course  in  the  prep- 
aration and  serv- 
ing of  food,  and  his 
rations  are  bought 
by  stewards  w  h  o 
have  had  expert 
training. 

From  reveille  until  3 :15  in  the  afternoon  there  is  hardly  a  moment 
not  taken  with  inspections,  drills,  or  academic  instruction,  and  on 
Saturday  comes  the  unsparing  inspection  of  the  station  by  the  Com- 
mandant himself. 

They  don't  think  much  of  the  old  salt's  maxim  about  "iron  ships 
and  wooden  men"  at  the  training  station,  but  from  3:15  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  until  6  o'clock  they  put  into  full  force  the  maxim  that 
"All  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy."  The  athletic  fields 
are  crowded  and  the  apprentice  seamen  have  splendid  baseball  and 
football  teams  coached  by  experts  in  those  sports.  There  is  basket- 
ball or  track  athletics  for  those  so  inclined,  and  sailing  and  swimming 
in  the  bay.  Boxing  is  a  favorite  sport,  and  the  chaplain  stages  every 
week  a  "smoker,"  with  its  boxing  bouts,  vaudeville  stunts,  and  mov- 
ing-picture shows.  Liberty  is  granted  every  afternoon  for  those  who 
are  not  on  guard;  and  on  Sunday,  after  church  is  over,  squads  leave 


^k 

..«?  ' 

^^^1 

^^^. 

A  BOXING  BOUT 


170 


THE  MAEVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


for  Newport  and  other  points  for  sight-seeing  or  visits.  Each  sta- 
tion also  has  its  bowling  alleys  and  its  libraries,  and  these,  combined 
with  every  form  of  athletics,  offer  as  much  inducement  as  the  call, 
"Lay  aft — all  the  liberty  party!" 

At  the  end  of  six  months'  course  come  the  final  examinations, 

and  promotion  to  the 
grade  of  seaman,  second 
class;  then  leave  to  visit 
homes,  and  at  its  end  a 
well  set-up,  flat-backed, 
sun-tanned  American 
bluejacket  reports  to  the 
Fleet  for  the  rest  of  his 
cruise. 

They  have  special 
provisions  at  every  train- 
ing station,  too,  for  the 
i-  e  c  r  u  i  t  who  shows 
marked  ability  along  spe- 
cial lines.  Soon  after  one 
such  leaves  the  deten- 
tion  barracks  he  is  on 
the  road  for  expert  train- 
ing. At  Newport,  the 
Great  Lakes  station,  and 
at  Goat  Island,  w  h  i  c  h 
is  the  popular  name  for 
the  San  Francisco  station, 
are  special  schools  for  the 
training  of  firemen,  third 
class,  as  the  last  Naval 
Bill  desigiiated  the  old- 
time  coal-passer;  for  yeo- 
men, the  clerks  of  the  Navy;  and  for  the  commissary,  sigiialmen,  and 
hospital  apprentice  billets.  Musicians  are  trained  at  Norfolk  and  San 
Francisco;  and  the  electrically  inclined  are  sent  to  either  New  Yoi'k 
or  ]\lare  Island,  where  they  have  wonderful  laboratories  in  the  mod- 
ernly  equipped  navy-yards.  The  shipwrights,  blacksmiths,  shipfitters, 
and  painters  go  to  Norfolk;  and  down  in  Charleston  are  assembled 
the  machinists,  coppersmiths,  and  those  who  have  chosen  instruction 
in  gasoline  engines.    Farther  south,  at  Pensaeola,  wath  its  great  sweep 


THE  COLOR  GUARD 


THE  MAKING  OF  A  MAN-O'-WAR'S-MAN  171 

of  bay  and  the  ocean  nearby,  we  train  our  fliers  for  the  aeronautic 
work ;  and  the  seamen  gunners,  the  aristocrats  of  the  Fleet,  have  their 
school  at  the  Washington  Navy  Yard.  The  training  of  the  torpedo  and 
diving  experts  is  carried  on  at  the  Torpedo  Station  at  Newport. 

In  days  that  did  not  reckon  with  these  specialist  schools  the  re- 
cruits were  all  enlisted  as  apprentice  boys  and  served  out  an  appren- 
ticeship as  such.  They  wore  on  their  uniforms  a  small  square  or 
apprentice  knot,  and  were  as  proud  of  it  as  the  college  boy  of  his 
"frat"  pin.  Since  the  ratings  were  changed  to  apprentice  seamen 
this  knot  has  been  discontinued,  but  many  of  the  officers  who  have 
given  their  best  work  to  the  training  stations  believe  that  the  custom 
should  be  revived.  When  it  was  in  vogue  the  men  on  board  ship 
who  wore  it  were  the  picked  men  of  the  crew.  Time  may  see  it  re- 
stored and  the  initials  of  the  particular  training  station  at  which  it 
was  won  worked  in  the  apprentice  knot. 


A  COMPANY  STREET  AT  GUANTANAMO 


XV 


WHEN    THE     SHIPS     GO     SOUTH 


WITH  the  first  signs  of  winter,  when  wild  water-fowl  are 
winging  their  way  to  the  South,  the  ships  of  the  battle  fleet, 
the  destroyer  force,  and  the  submarine  flotilla  make  ready 
for  the  annual  cruise  to  the  Caribbean.  Shortly  after  the  Christmas 
holidays  you  read  in  the  newspapers  that  they  have  made  their  start. 
Then  there  comes  an  occasional  scant  paragraph  under  the  date  line 
of  a  West  Indian  port;  or  from  the  Canal  Zone  comes  brief  word  of 
the  Fleet.  That  is  all,  until  the  anchors  drop  again  in  a  Northern 
port  in  April,  that  the  public  hears  of  this  interesting  cruise. 

Out  from  the  navy-yards  that  lie  on  the  Atlantic  Coast — Ports- 
mouth, Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Norfolk — the  ships  of  the 
Atlantic  Fleet  steam  for  the  rendezvous  at  Hampton  Roads,  by  single 
ships  and  by  divisions.  From  Portsmouth  and  Boston  the  gray  fight- 
ers round  Cape  Cod.  Out  from  the  Wallabout  Basin  at  the  Brooklyn 
Yard  tugs  help  the  superdreadnoughts  out  into  the  stream,  and  the 
crows'  nests  of  the  military  masts  almost  touch  the  Brooklyn  Bridge 
as  they  pass  out  in  column  to  the  deep-water  channel  that  leads  past 
Sandy  Hook.  From  the  Philadelphia  Yard  the  ships  that  make  that 
their  home  port  stand  out  for  the  Capes  of  the  Delaware;  and  from 
the  Norfolk  Yard  still  others  drop  leisurely  dowm  to  Hampton  Roads 
to  join  their  sisters. 

172 


173 


Courtesy  of  "Flal  fttwcic" 


ACROSS  THE  GULF  STREAM 


Courtesy  of  "Fleet  Review" 


LIMBEIUNG  Ul'  FOR  THE  BAiiEBALL  .MATCHES 


174 


WHEN  THE  SHIPS  GO  SOUTH 


175 


From  the  submarine  station  at  New  London  and  the  various  yards 
the  slim  submarines  are  heading  South  for  Pensacola,  Florida,  their 
winter  base  for  work  with  the  aeronautic  corps,  and  the  destroyers 
speed  along  to  join  the  Fleet  at  some  selected  point  in  the  Carilibean. 

Out  on  the  West  Coast  the  same  scenes  are  being  enacted  at 
Bremerton,  Mare  Island, 
and  San  Diego,  with  Magda- 
lena  Bay,  Mexico,  as  the  end 
of  their  journey.  The  de- 
stroyers a  n  d  submarines 
that  guard  the  Western 
Coast  gather  at  Honolulu  or 
San  Diego  for  their  winter 
maneuvers. 

It  is  a  sight  well  worth 
seeing  to  watch  the  Atlantic 
Fleet  sail  out  from  Hamp- 
ton Roads.  The  docks  at 
Old  Point  Comfort  and  the 
grass-covered  ramparts  of 
Fortress  Monroe  are  crowd- 
ed with  the  wives  and  sweet- 
hearts of  the  Fleet  as  the 
flagship  leads  the  waj'^ 
South. 

Generally  the  Fleet 
stops  at  some  West  Indian 
port,  such  as  Culebra,  our 
most  eastern  salient  in  the 
Caribbean,  to  refuel  a  n  d 
prepare  for  a  week's  stra- 
tegical work  at  sea.  At  other 
times  there  is  no  halt  until 
the   Fleet,   passing  to   the 

westward  along  the  Southern  coast  of  Cuba,  steams  into  Guantanamo 
Bay. 

It  is  a  splendid  sheet  of  water  capable  of  anchorage  for  a  modern 
fleet  and  its  train,  and  much  of  the  efficiency  of  our  Navy  is  Iniilt  up 
down  here  where  the  Cuban  Government,  by  treaty  rights,  has  reserved 
a  station  for  the  Navy. 

A  few  days  out  from  Hampton  Eoads  a  flagship  signal  changes 


176 


TIIK  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


the  winter  uniform  of  blue  into  wliites  in  a  twinkling;  for  once  Cape 
Hatteras  has  been  rounded  the  Fleet  is  in  the  mild  airs  of  the  semi- 
tropics.  The  trade  clouds  show  up  on  the  horizon  in  orderly  ranks 
of  white.  Flying  fish  break  in  silvery  schools  at  the  bows,  and  now 
and  then  a  nautilus  or  a  drift  of  seaweed  slips  by.  The  sky  is  streaked 
with  plumes  of  black  smoke  from  the  funnels  of  the  Fleet,  and  the 

Admiral  throws  his  ships 
into  different  formations, 
drilling  them  in  tactical 
work  and  exercises  to  de- 
velop proficiency  in  ma- 
neuvering and  seaman- 
ship. 

On  deck  between  the 
drill  periods  the  baseball 
batteries  limber  up,  offi- 
cers have  matches  in  trap- 
shooting,  and  track  ath- 
letes practice  their  starts. 
P]very  one  is  looking  for- 
ward to  the  great  Athletic 
"Week  which  makes  so 
welcome  a  break  in  the 
strenuous  program  of 
drills  and  maneuvers. 

The  modern  man-o'- 
war  is  not  built  for  com- 
fort in  wintry  climates. 
Drills  are  hard  to  carry 
out,  and  the  activities  of 
the  ship  suffer.  The 
warm  climate  of  the  Car- 
ibbean is  ideal  in  winter 
for  the  hard  work  ahead. 
The  harbor  of  Guan- 
tanamo  is  easy  of  entrance  by  day  or  night,  and  the  ships  carry  on 
their  maneuvers  to  great  advantage  witli  the  bay  as  their  base.  War 
problems  are  worked  out  at  sea,  and  battle  practice  with  the  great 
grms  is  held  on  the  wide  stretches  that  are  bare  of  sail.  On  shore  the 
largest  rifle  range  in  the  world,  with  its  mile  of  targets,  gives  wonder- 
ful opportunities  to  develop  skill  with  the  rifle  and  pistol.    An  avex'age 


DOWN      FROM      THE      MAIN 


MARINES  IN  CAMP  AT  CULEBRA — USUALLY  THE  FIRST  STOP 


THE  ADVANCE  BASE  REGIMENT  OF  MARINES  AT  MORNING  COLORS 


THE  BATTLE  FLEET  MANEUVERS 


Courtesy  ofFl.rl  llnicir- 


ARTILLERY  DRILL  ON  THE  SAND  FLATS 


178 


WHEN  THE  SHIPS  GO  SOUTH 


179 


of  2,000,000  rounds  of  ammunition  a  month  is  eaten  up  with  the  3,000 
bluejackets  and  marines  each  week  who  fire  on  the  ranges. 

Ships  land  their  men  for  a  week  or  so  at  a  time  to  live  under 
canvas  and  carry  out  a  military  routine  to  fit  them  for  landing  in 
tropical  coimtries.  The  bay  is  ideal  for  swimming,  sailing,  rowing 
and  fishing,  and 
the  wide  beaches 
and  flats  are  stud- 
ded with  athletic 
fields  of  every 
kind.  The  bands 
go  ashore  too,  and 
when  champion- 
ship matches  are 
being  played  there 
are  at  times  as 
many  as  eight 
bands  giving  con- 
certs. At  night, 
with  the  day's 
work  done,  unless 
a  gunnery  drill  in- 
terferes, the  crews 
have  their  own  mo- 
tion-picture shows. 
At  times  more 
elaborate  enter- 
tainments known 
as  "smokers"  are 
held,  with  amateur 
theatrical  enter- 
tainments, wres- 
tling and  boxiiii;- 
bouts,  winding  up 
with  a  fine  supper. 
Carnivals  are  held 
on  the  waters  of 
the  bay,  and  each 
ship  tries  to  outdo  all  others  in  the  floats  that  are  a  feature  of  it. 

For  two  weeks  of  the  three  months'  cruise  in  Southern  waters 
all  ships  go  westward  100  miles  to  Guaycanayabo  Bay  for  torpedo 


THE  OCCUPATION  OF  VERA  CRUZ  BY  THE  BLUEJACKETS  AND 
MARINES  OF  THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC  FLEET  IN  1914 


THE  FLEET  BRIGADE  EMBAKkS  AFTER  MANEUVERS 


Courtesy  of  "Flui  /n  i /<  n' 


A  ship's  landing  force  ASHORE  AT  GUANTANAMO 


WHEN  THE  SHIPS  GO  SOUTH 


181 


work.  Here  the  destroyer  force  spends  two-tliirds  of  its  time.  There 
is  practically  no  food  supijly  here,  lite  ashore  is  primitive,  and  the 
Fleet  calls  the  si3ot  "Hmigry  Gulf." 

At  some  time  in  the  Southern  cruise  the  men  of  the  Fleet  are  sent 
by  rail  or  ship  from  Guantanamo  for  a  sight-seeing  trip  to  Santiago, 
one  of  the  most  interesting  cities  of  Cuba.  At  other  times  the  fleet 
weighs  anchor  and  steams  to  Colon,  both  to  give  the  crews  a  chance 
to  see  the  greatest  achievement  of  American  engineering,  and  to  test 
out  the  passage  through  the  Panama  Canal  locks. 

The  ships  do  a  tremendous  amount  of  practical  work  on  the 
Southern  cruise,  with  nothing  to  interrupt  them,  and  when  anchors 
are  hoisted  to  head  North  the  battle  fleet  is  at  the  top  of  its  efficiency. 


'"■fif"i^': 

Ij 

^f\ 

^ 

g 

\ 

ki 

Mm 

m 

^^Pl 

1^1^ 

^TO 

inmM 

>^gf 

Sra 

i#^ 

V^ 

I?"!""'' 

"m 

pi 

m 

Sr-' 

w 

^Si 

M 

B 

AIRING  BEDDING  ON  THE  FOC's'lE 


Hum,,,  ../  M,;l,r,,n  a,i,l 


I'lTAL  SHIP 


XVI 


THE    FLEET    HAS    ITS    TRAIN 


JUST  as  an  army  must  have  its  noii-fcimbatant  supply  trains  to 
feed,  clothe,  and  arm  the  battalions  for  the  firing-  line,  so  the 

navies  have  their  less  showy  but  invaluable  aids  to  keep  the 
Fleet  ready  for  battle  on  the  seas.  The  Fleet  calls  its  fuel-ships,  both 
oil  and  colliers,  its  transports,  tenders,  hospital,  supply,  amniunition, 
repair,  and  other  auxiliary  vessels  its  Train.  The  mine-layers  and 
sweepers  and  mine-depot  shijjs  are  a  separate  unit,  known  to  the  Fleet 
as  the  Mine  Force.  Without  the  Train  the  Fleet  could  not  be 
kept  up  to  the  efficiency  that  fighting  under  modern  conditions  de- 
mands any  more  than  a  city  could  exist  without  fuel,  food,  hospitals, 
and  stores. 

Before  the  Fleet  sallied  forth  to  give  battle  to  its  rival,  tli(>  Train 
would  be  busy  night  and  day  filling  bunkers  and  tanks  with  fuel,  maga- 
zines and  shell-rooms  with  jiowder  and  projectiles,  and  store-rooms 

182 


THE  FLEET  HAS  ITS  TRAIN 


183 


with  the  immense  supplies 
iieedeil.  When  the  fight- 
ing ships  finally  clash 
in  an  engagement  that  may 
either  settle  or  have  a  de- 
cisive bearing  on  the  fate 
of  the  nations  involved,  the 
Train  stays  well  to  the  rear 
of  the  smoke  and  fire  of  bat- 
tle, usually  in  a  well-protected 
naval  base.  Its  ships  are  not 
built  for  fighting,  although, 
with  the  exception  of  the  hos- 
pital ships,  they  are  armed 
with  light  gi;ns  as  a  defense 
against  raiding  destroj^ers 
and  submarines. 

When  the  Fleet  comes 
out  from  the  shock  of  battle, 
either  victor  or  vanquished, 
then  the  Train  steams  forth 
to  hasten  the  work  of  repair- 
ing damages,  carrying  away 
the  wounded  to  naval  hospi- 
tals, and  putting  the  bulldogs 
of  war  into  trim  for  another 
trial  of  stroiin'tli. 


Courtcsu  of  Flirt  Ktriru" 

THE  MONITOR  "TALLAHASSEE' 


Courlesu  of"  Fleet  Itcnew" 

BATTLESHIP    COALING    AT    SEA    FROM    COLLIER 
AHEAD 

As  all  destroy- 
ers and  the  latest 
of  American  su- 
p  e  r  (1  r  e  a  d  - 
noughts  a  r  e  oil- 
burning  craft,  and 
many  others  use 
oil  as  an  auxiliary 
fuel,  the  oil-fuel 
ships  are  among 
the  most  important 
of  the  Train.  The 
oil-fuel  ship  is  real- 
ly a  large  oil  tanker 


SHIPS  A  SEA 


184 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICx\N  SHIPS 


such  as  is  used  in  the  merchant  service,  but  it  also  must  be  ready  to 
accompany  the  battle  fleet  and  be  prepared  to  supply  fuel-oil  to  v(>ssels 
of  all  sizes,  under  the  worst  conditions  of  wind  and  sea.  The  oil-fuel 
ships  can  be  recognized  by  the  landsman  through  the  Indian  names 

which  distinguish  them  from 
the  colliers  of  the  Fleet.  The 
first  of  our  modern  carriers 
were  christened  the  Mau- 
iiiee,  Kanawha  and  Cuyania. 
In  tonnage,  length,  and 
(haft  they  are  much  like  our 
largest  armored  cruisers, 
]>ut  the  Union  Jack  at  their 
bows,  and  their  coats  of  gray 
paint  are  the  only  features 
that  outwardly  distinguish 
them  from  commercial  fuel- 
ships.  They  can  make  14 
knots  with  their  modern  Die- 
sel engines,  and  carry  10,000 
tons  of  the  precious  fuel-oil. 
The  first  tank  ship,  to  use 
the  commercial  name,  the 
Aiefhtisa,  was  one-fourtli 
the  size,  carried  one-third 
the  fuel,  and  with  her  10 
knots  is  unequal  to  the 
cruising  speed  of  the  battle 
fleet. 

Our  colliers,  sixteen  in 
all,  despite  their  grime  and 
dust,  bear  names  famous  in 
mythology,  such  as  the  Ja- 
son, Nero,  Neptune,  Mars, 
Jupiter,  and  Cijclops.  Half  of  them  are  fitted  to  carry  fuel-oil  in  addi- 
tion to  the  coal  in  their  roomy  bunkers.  The  colliers  take  on  their 
black  cargoes  from  modern  coal  elevators  at  the  seaboard.  At  sea, 
when  traveling  with  the  Fleet,  coaling  is  done  at  cruising  speed  by 
an  ingenious  device.  The  collier  steams  ahead  and  from  her  stern 
runs  a  traveling  cableway  to  a  temporary  mast  rigged  on  the  fore- 


TilK  DKCK  OK  'I'lIK    Tli.WsroRT 


THE  FLEET  HAS  ITS  TRAIN 


185 


castle  of  the  battleship.  Over  this  cableway  go  bags  loaded  with  coal, 
and  back  go  the  empties  to  be  refilled. 

A  most  welcome  sight  to  the  Fleet  at  anchor  in  one  of  our  distant 
bases  is  the  arrival  of  the  supply  ships  of  the  Train.  Down  in  their 
refrigerators  are  meat,  butter,  eggs,  vegetables,  and  other  supplies 
that  cannot  be  had  in  the  tropics,  and  the  opening  of  their  cargo 
hatches  brings  joy  to  the  ships.  The  Culgoa,  Celtic,  and  Glacier,  the 
last  well-named,  were  bought  by  the  American  Navy  for  the  Spanish 
War.  One-fourth  of  their  cargo  space  is  devoted  to  meat  kept  at  a 
temperature  of  15  degrees  above  zero.  When  they  join  the  Fleet  they 
bring  along  a  half-million  pounds  of  frozen  beef  alone,  which  keeps 
the  mess-tables  of  the  Fleet  well  supplied  for  a  month. 

The  destroyer  flotillas,  which  combined  make  the  Destroyer  Force, 
must  have  tenders  to  carry  extra  supplies  and  for  repair  work.  These 
tenders,  as  a  rule,  operate  with  the  Train,  of  which  they  form  an 
integral  and  important  part. 

The  Submarine  Force  operates  from  mobile  bases,  which  is  an- 
other term  for  a  tender  or  mother-ship.  Each  division  or  group  of 
the  undersea  boats,  not  more  than  half  a  dozen,  has  its  mobile  base. 
Their  mother-ships  not  only  carry  extra  supplies  for  them  and  are 
able  to  make  minor  repairs,  but  the  crews  of  the  subs  use  their  more 
comfortable  quarters  as  a  floating  barracks.  From  the  ranks  of  spe- 
cially built  craft  such  as  the  Bushnell,  discarded  cruisers  such  as 
the  Cltaiieston  and  Milwaukee,  and  from  the  monitors  are  recruited 


Pholo  tiy  Slcbbii 


THE  TWO-TUERETED  MONITOR  "mIANTONAMAH" 


THE  FLEET  HAS  ITS  TEAIN 


187 


the  mother-ships.  The  monitors  are  of  the  type  that  came  in  with 
the  Civil  War.  When  the  Spanish  War  broke  out  old  ones  were  has- 
tily put  into  commission  to  defend  our  harbors  from  raids.  Some 
were  later  used  in  the  Cuban  blockade,  and  the  Miantonomah  and 
Monadnock  were  rushed  out  to  Manila  to  reenforce  Admiral  Dewey. 
Others  were  built  just  after  that  war. 

The  European  War  saw  the  monitors  once  more  in  favor.  On 
the  Belgian  coast,  at  the  Dardanelles,  and  in  the  Danube  they  did 
excellent  work.  With  their  light  draught  and  heavy  guns  they  were 
able  to  work  where  a  battleship  would  have  grounded.  Their  ten- 
dency to  roll  in  a  seaway  makes  them  poor  platforms  for  accurate 
shooting,  and  they  are  not  so  habitable  as  battleships;  and  in  our 
Navy  they  have  dropped  from  the  battle  line  to  new  usefulness  as 
tenders  and  mother-ships  to  the  little  submarines. 

Another  ship  of  the  Train  to  which  great  attention  is  being  paid 
is  the  transport.  For  years  we  were  dependent  on  old  cargo  steamers 
that  were  bought  at  the  time  of  the  war  with  Spain,  and  hurriedly 
converted  into  transports  for  the  marine  expeditionary  forces.  At 
present  the  Hancock,  Rainbow,  Prairie,  and  Buffalo  are  the  bulk  of 


THE  COLLIEK  "NEPTUNE' 


188 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


GUI'  naval  transports,  but  the  commissioning  of  the  Henderson,  named 
after  a  former  Commandant  of  the  Marine  Corps  who  distinguished 
himself  in  the  Florida  Indian  Wars,  has  given  the  sea  soldiers  a  modern 
transport.     She  is  the  forerunner  of  a  new  fleet,  with  her  armored 

trucks  and  cars,  her  wireless 
field  outfits,  her  landing- 
guns  and  all  other  gear  that 
is  needed  when  a  regiment 
of  marines  is  hurried  to  a 
scene  of  fighting  in  the  West 
Indies  or  "somewhere  in 
France."  With  her  tonnage 
of  10,000  the  HendersoH  is 
not  only  twice  the  size  of  the 
old  transports  but  she  can 
follow  the  Fleet  anywhere. 

The  ProiiieflieKs  and 
Vestal  are  fitted  out  for  re- 
pair work  that  cannot  be 
done  aboard  a  battleship  or 
cruiser  away  from  the  navy 
yards.  They  are  actually 
floating  machine  shops  with 
every  facility  of  forge  and 
lathe  to  do  the  work,  and  the 
Fleet  could  ill  spare  them. 

To  help  out  the  hard- 
worked  gunboats  the  Train 
includes  in  its  strength  two 
surveying  ships,  the  Leoni- 
das  and  the  Hannibal;  and 
to  keep  the  Fleet  supplied 
with  ammunition  of  all 
kind  s,  from  the  14-inch 
"sol.^ce"  shells    down    to    the    one- 

pounders,  and  powder  to  re- 
place the  charges  fired  away  at  practice  or  in  battle,  the  Lebanon  is  the 
annnnnition  ship  of  the  Train. 

There  are  no  ships  performing  more  interesting  work  than  that 
of. the  mine-layers  and  mine-sweepers.  The  possibilities  of  sinking 
ships  by  mines  sprang  from  the  fertile  mind  of  an  American,  David ' 


Burmu  I./  Medicine  ami  .Siiri/ir;/ 

HOISTING     PATIENTS     ABOARD     THE 


THE  FLEP]T  HAS  ITS  TRAIN 


189 


Courtesy  of  "Our  Navy" 

THE  REPAIR  SHIP  "vESTAL" 


Bushnell,  at  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War.  In  the  Civil  War 
twenty-tive  ships  were  lost  by  mines  alone,  planted  in  Confederate 
waters.  Our  prin- 
cipal mine  -  layers, 
the  San  Francisco 
and  the  Baltimore, 
began  their  naval 
careers  as  cruisers, 
but  as  mine-layers 
they  are  well 
equipped  for  their 
new  work. 

A  submarine 
mine  is  a  metal 
case  filled  with  an 
explosive,  and 
moored  near  the 
surface.  Small 
craft  can  pass  over 
the  mine  fields,  for 
they  are  not  wast- 
ed on  the  small 
game  of  the  sea. 
AMien  a  larger 
ship,  with  greater 
draft,  passes  over 
a  mine,  however, 
its  hull  pushes  in  a 
plunger  which  de- 
tonates the  gun- 
cotton  or  other 
high  explosive  and 
the  mine  is  explod- 
ed against  the  hull, 
either  sinking  or 
crippling  the  un- 
lucky ship.  The 
mines,  hidden  from 
spying  aircraft  or 

watches  on  deck,  have  a  great  moral  effect.     When  struck  they  throw 
a  column  of  water  as  high  as  the  masts  of  the  tricked  vessel. 


I'HE  TRANSPORT  "  HANCOCK  " 


190 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


In  recent  years  our  Navy  has  done  much  to  perfect  the  mine.  In 
a  great  sea  fight  the  fleeing  fleet  drops  its  store  of  mines  overboard 
in  the  path  of  the  pursuing  ships. 

As  a  defense  against  the  danger  of  mines  the  mine-sweepers  tow 
drags  behind  them,  and  these  set  oif  the  detonators  of  the  mines  so 
that  they  explode  without  injury.  Okl  destroyers  have  been  pressed 
into  this  service  and,  with  trawk^rs,  tugs,  and  Liunches,  make  good 
mine-sweepers.  The  Mine  Force  of  tlie  present  Fleet  has  jumped 
into  a  very  important  role  of  naval  warfare. 

Aptly  named  are  the  Solace  and  the  Relief,  for  they  are  the  hos- 
pital ships  of  the  Train.  As  hospital  ships  are  immune  from  capture 
or  attack  they  are  the  only  vessels  of  the  fleet  that  do  not  carry  arma- 
ment for  either  attack  or  defense.  Both  the  Solace  and  the  Belief 
are  converted  merchant  vessels,  but  the  work  performed  by  them  has 
proved  so  valuable  that  we  are  now  building  a  new  hospital  ship 
w^hich  when  finished  will  be  a  modern  floating  liospital.  Her  hull 
has  been  specially  designed  to  prevent  rolling,  and  in  that  way  make 
life  more  bearable  for  the  sick  and  wounded  in  her  care.  She  wall 
be  460  feet  long,  with  a  beam  of  60  feet  and  room  for  500  patients  in 
time  of  war.  Meals  will  be  served  hot  on  a  steam  table  that  is  rolled 
along  deck  and  carried  to  other  decks  by  elevators.  There  wdll  be 
a  diet  kitchen,  an  X-ray  room,  sterilizing  apparatus,  contagious  dis- 
ease wards,  and  laboratories  and  other  special  rooms  equipped  with 
the  latest  devices  of  surgery  that  the  modern  hospital  has  on  shore. 

The  Navy  also  has  its  fleets  of  yachts  and  tugs  which  are  part  of 


THE  CULLlliU    'JLI'ITKU 


.:■■■%  w:m  nn 


i'::;P"' 


191 


192 


THE  MAKVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


tlie  Train.  The  most  famous  of  the  yachts  is  the  Mayflower,  the 
President's  official  yacht,  which  was  formerly  J.  Pierpont  Morgan's 
pleasure  yacht,  the  Corsair.  Another  is  the  Yankton,  the  official  ten- 
der of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Atlantic  Fleet,  and  formerly 
the  Cleopatra,  Sarah  Bernhardt 's  famous  yacht.  The  Scorpion,  which 
did  valuable  relief  work  at  the  time  of  the  great  Messina  earthquake 
in  Sicily,  in  1908,  is  the  station  ship  for  the  American  Embassy  at 
Constantinople. 

The  Navy  has  also  a  goodly  flotilla  of  tugs,  most  of  which  bear 
such  Indian  names  as  Apache,  Arapaho,  Choctaw,  and  Siuux.  These 
useful  midgets  tow  lighters  and  barges  filled  with  ammunition  and 
supplies,  help  the  big  ships  in  and  out  of  their  navy-yard  berths,  and 
do  a  multitude  of  errands  and  hard  work  for  the  navy-yards,  foreign 
stations,  training  stations,  and  the  Fleet.  Largest  of  them  all  is 
the  Sonoma,  and  the  fleetest  is  the  Potomac,  which  distinguished  her- 
self by  rushing  under  forced  draft  from  the  naval  station  at  San  Juan, 
Porto  Rico,  to  the  French  island  of  Martinique  when  the  eruption  of 
Mt.  Pelee  wiped  out  the  city  of  St.  Pierre.  Here  she  did  yeoman  work 
in  rescue,  in  caring  for  refugees,  and,  until  the  cruisers  Cincinnati 
and  Dixie  arrived,  was  the  only  representative  of  the  American  nation 
in  the  foreign  fleet  that  lay  at  anchor  in  the  roadstead  of  Fort  de 
France,  the  birthplace  of  Josephine,  the  consort  of  Napoleon. 


^~V£ 


^?*ii*iJl-5f*V 


nil,  MIM-  l,A\l;U  "  UALTIM(.)UE 


C'nvUan  of  "FUd  11. 


INSTRUCTION  WITH  SEMAPHORE  AND  WIGWAG 


XVII 


HOW    THE    SHIPS    TALK 


THE  ships  that  sail  the  seas  are  great  talkers.  They  not  only 
have  their  ways  of  sending  messages  of  distress  and  other 
important  news,  hut  they  love  to  gossip  on  matters  of  much 
less  consequence.  Of  all  ships  the  man-o'-war  is  the  greatest  talker, 
for  the  Fleet  bustles  with  life  in  port  or  at  sea,  and  the  navies  of  the 
world  talk  fluently  in  many  languages  of  which  the  peaceful  merchant- 
man has  barely  mastered  the  A  B  C. 

The  ships  of  the  American  Navy  carry  on  their  talk  by  day  or 
night:  anchored  within  the  toss  of  a  ship's  biscuit  of  each  other  or 
hundreds  of  miles  apart;  on  a  day  sparkling  with  sunshine  or  when 
the  fog  lies  like  a  great  gray  blanket  on  the  sea,  and  all  with  the 
same  ease.  Within  sight  of  each  other  they  use  their  visual  signals, 
and  when  the  fog  rolls  in  and  hides  them  from  each  other  their  boom- 
ing whistles  carry  on  the  talk  with  long  and  short  blasts.  Even  the 
submarines,  darting  beneath  the  surface,  have  their  bell  warnings  so 
that  the  little  undersea  craft  may  avoid  collision. 

The  visual  signals  are  in  constant  use  and  are  the  most  varied 
of  all  the  odd  tongiies  that  carry  on  deepsea  talk.  Flags  and  sema- 
phores keep  up  a  lively  conversation  by  day,  and  when  night  sets 

193 


194 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


ill  the  maii-of-'\var  has  its  Ardois  hghts  and  blinkers,  its  searchlights 
and  rockets. 

At  the  ends  of  the  flying  bridges  that  span  a  modern  man-of-war 
you  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  upright  bar  from  the  top  of  which  stubby 
arms  wave  at  all  angles,  for  all  the  world  like  the  arms  of  a  lively 

Jumping-Jack.  These  are 
the  semaphore  signals 
and  they  are  made  of 
either  wood  or  metal  and 
worked  by  small  levers. 
"With  the  same  movements 
a  sailorman,  with  a  small 
red  and  yellow  flag  in 
either  hand,  can  send  the 
same  message ;  but  the 
bulk  of  the  messages  are 
sent  by  the  machines,  for 
they  reel  off  messages 
faster  than  a  man  can. 
Before  the  semaphore 
system  was  perfected  this 
kind  of  visual  signaling 
was  done  by  flag  waving 
or  wigwagging.  The  sem- 
aphore is  faster,  but  when' 
the  distance  is  too  great 
for  the  waving  semaphore 
arms  to  be  distinguished 
the  message  is  wigwagged 
by  the  big  red  and  white 
flag.  In  the  semaphore 
each  angle  of  the  arms  is 
a  letter.  In  the  wigwag  there  are  three  motions,  one  to  the  right,  one 
to  the  left,  and  one  to  the  front.  Each  motion  to  right  or  left  repre- 
sents the  dots  and  dashes  of  the  telegraphic  alphabet  of  the  Morse 
code;  some  letters  require  four  moves. 

"When  the  marines  hold  Guantiinamo  as  a  base  for  Admiral  Samp- 
son in  1898,  their  signalmen  wigwagged  at  night  to  the  ships  in  the 
harbor  with  an  ordinary  lantern,  while  the  Spanish  sharpshooters 
volleyed  at  the  signalmen  standing  upright  on  the  parapet  of  their 
trenches.     "With  a  lantern  placed  inside  a  box  with  a  sliding  lid  yoiv 


SEMAPHORING    AN    OKFICIAL    MESSAGE    IN    ENGLISH 
WATERS 


<1G.N Ai.iNi;  A  -\i]:ssA(;i:   in    iiii:  j-i.ki;t 


Courtesy  of  '*Our  Navy^" 


A  BATTLESHIP  SEARCHLIGHT 


A  FLAG  HOIST  DRILL 


19.5 


KADKI  TOWERS  INLAND  TALK  WITH  THE  FLEET 


I 

I'M 

1 

h'W 

LfA 

R 

1' 

ffl 

A4=k_: 

^^ 

AfvA 

|4-; 

■pM|i 

**                      '  »-■' 

/-l(-2g>-*-4 

1 

SSSS9 

^H 

1 

THE  DAKIEN  IIADIO  TOWERS  AT  PANAMA 
196 


HOW  THE  SHIPS  TALK 


197 


can  carry  on  an  animated  conversation  b.y  fastening  a  cord  at  the 
top  of  the  sliding  lid,  and  then  lowering  the  lid  qnickly  for  the  dots, 
and  slowly  for  the 
dashes     of     the 
Morse  alphabet. 

For  distance 
where  the  sema- 
phore and  wigwag 
are  not  adequate, 
and  always  when 
the  Fleet  is  ma- 
nenvering  at  sea 
or  in  battle,  signal 
flags  are  hoisted. 
These  hoists,  as 
they  are  called, 
can  be  seen  for 
miles,  and  many 
sentiments  that 
have  gone  down  in 
history  were  first 
flown  in  battle 
from  the  yard-arm 
of  a  flagship.  It 
was  Nelson  at 
Trafalgar  who  or- 
dered the  hoist 
that  read :  ' '  Eng- 
land expects  every 
man  to  do  his 
duty!"  And  it 
was  Perry  at  Lake 
Erie  who  flew  the 
signal:  "Don't  give  up  the  ship!" 
Lawrence  of  the  Chesapeake. 

For  the  flag  hoists  the  twenty-six  flags  of  the  International  Code, 
one  for  each  letter  of  the  alphabet,  are  used.  With  their  reds  and 
yellows,  whites  and  blues,  they  are  as  gay  as  the  flags  of  rival  schools 
at  an  athletic  meet.  All  navies,  and  the  merchantmen  of  all  nations, 
use  the  International  Code;  so  that  an  American  schooner,  meeting 
a  Norwegian  bark  in  mid-ocean,  can  give  the  latter  her  latitude  and 


lional  A'fM'S  Simcc 

THE  BRIDGE  OF  THE  FLAGSHIP 


-the  dying  message  of  Captain 


198  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

longitude  and  then  run  up  a  hoist  asking  for  the  loan  of  a  cake  of  ice. 
Each  navy,  too,  has  its  own  secret  code  and  uses  the  international 
flags  by  hoisting  them  under  its  own  code  pennant. 

The  code  book  of  a  navy,  if  it  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  another 
government,  might  spell  disaster  if  those  two  nations  should  ever  meet 
in  war.  So,  in  peace  time  as  well  as  war,  the  code  books  are  guarded 
jealously.  Their  loss  is  a  courtmartial  offense.  The  signal  code 
book  is  weighted  with  lead  and  if  a  ship  is  captured  it  is  thrown 
overboard. 

Every  morning  at  seven  o'clock  the  flagship  makes  the  time  and 
uniform  signal;  and  at  ten  o'clock  each  ship  in  the  Fleet  makes  a 
hoist  that  informs  the  Admiral  of  the  number  of  sick  and  absentees 
under  his  command.  Every  noon  another  hoist  tells  him  how  much 
fuel  and  water  each  ship  has  used  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  how 
much  is  left  in  her  tanks  and  bunkers,  and,  at  sea,  the  latitude  and 
longitude. 

AVhen  night  falls  the  red  and  white  lamps  of  the  Ardois  at 
masthead  wink  out  their  messages,  and  each  ship,  as  it  reads  them, 
passes  them  on  to  the  ships  astern.  Yard-arm  blinkers  are  supplant- 
ing the  Ardois  just  as  the  semaphore  did  the  wig-wag,  for  the  blinkers 
flash  out  the  dots  and  dashes  in  short  and  long  displays  faster  than 
the  Ardois.  Both  are  worked  from  the  bridge  by  an  electrical  key- 
board, the  press  of  a  button  showing  the  letter  up  aloft.  "With  a 
fleet  at  anchor  at  night  it  is  a  fascinating  sight  when  the  red  and  white 
lamps  of  the  Ardois  spell  ou'  their  news  and  the  white  blinkers  are 
winking  like  so  many  fireflies  against  the  black  of  the  night.  The 
semaphore  arms,  lighted  by  bulbs,  sweep  like  glowing  jewels  at  the 
ends  of  the  bridges,  and  from  the  searchlight  platforms  the  great 
white  beams  of  the  searchlight  move  back  and  forth  or  throw  their 
soft  light  up  against  a  bank  of  cloud. 

If  a  message  must  be  sent  a  great  distance,  perhaps  to  a  scout 
far  out  at  sea,  the  great  searchlight  draws  its  giant  finger  against 
the  somber  background  of  the  sky,  calling  the  scout  by  its  code  letter. 
From  the  black  ocean  leaps  up  the  answering  "Aye!  Aye!"  of  the 
scout.  Off  goes  the  message,  flashed  by  the  opening  and  closing  of 
the  searchlight's  shutter.  The  signalmen  lay  their  telescopes  in  the 
quarter  from  which  the  answer  is  to  come  while  the  recorder,  pad  and 
pencil  ready,  writes  it  down  in  his  signal  book.  The  latest  of  our 
ships  now  use  small  searchlight  lanterns  on  the  bridge,  and  with  their 
blinding  lights  messages  have  been  sent  for  great  distances.  With 
a  ship  of  the  Atlantic  Fleet  lying  off  the  entrance  to  the  Panama 


HOW  THE  SHIPS  TALK  199 

Canal,  and  a  ship  of  the  Pacific  Squadron  lying  at  the  other  entrance, 
by  throwing  their  powerful  searchlight  beams  across  Culebra  Cut  on 
a  dark  night  messages  have  been  sent  with  comparative  ease. 

There  are  other  lights  used  at  night  by  all  ships  for  special 
purposes,  such  as  code  signals  and  signals  of  distress.  These  are  the 
Very  night  signals.  A  cartridge  much  like  that  used  in  a  shotgun  is 
fired  from  a  specially  constructed  pistol,  and  the  rocket  that  soars 
up  in  the  night  is  followed  by  other  cartridges  that  send  out  their 
message  in  red  and  green  stars  like  those  of  a  Roman  candle. 

The  greatest  of  all  methods  by  which  ships  talk  to  each  other, 
or  to  shore  stations,  is  that  of  the  wireless  telegraph.  The  Navy  calls 
it  the  Radio  because  the  energy  is  radiated  or  sent  out  into  space  and 
the  messages  are  radiograms.  Nowadays  with  the  radio  communica- 
tion vessels  several  hundred  miles  apart  can  talk  with  greater  ease 
than  the  old  frigates  could  lying  in  the  same  harbor.  Every  day  the 
ships  at  sea  get  their  radiograms  of  the  world's  news,  and  those  giving 
the  baseball  and  football  scores  are  circulated  through  the  ships  with 
great  enthusiasm.  To  make  this  wonderful  communication  not  only 
every  ship  in  the  Navy  has  its  wireless,  but  the  Navy  has  stations  along 
the  coast  to  receive  and  transmit  orders  and  messages. 

There  is  little  evidence  to  show  that  a  ship  is  fitted  with  wireless 
except  for  the  slim  aerial  Avires,  or  antennip,  that  hang  from  the  top 
of  the  highest  mast.  The  wireless  room  is  out  of  sight  behind  the 
heaviest  belt  of  armor,  and  our  battleships  are  now  fitted  with  mili- 
tary, or  fire  control,  masts,  so  constructed  that  no  single  shell  can 
smash  them  and  thus  destroy  the  wireless. 

King  of  all  the  wireless  in  the  Navy  is  the  great  station  at  Radio, 
Virginia,  which  rears  its  twin  wireless  towers  within  sight  of  the 
Navy  Department  and  flashes  its  messages  to  ships  3,000  miles  out  at 
sea.  Night  is  more  favorable  for  wireless  than  daytime,  for  then 
messages  are  sometimes  sent  double  the  distance.  The  distance  varies 
with  conditions,  some  of  which  the  experts  cannot  explain,  but  the 
power  of  the  instrument  and  the  height  of  the  mast  or  tower  support- 
ing the  aerials  are  great  helps  for  distance. 

The  wireless  has  not  only  become  a  great  factor  in  war  but  a 
mighty  agency  in  peace  in  the  calling  of  ships  to  a  vessel  in  distress. 
The  magic  letters  S.  O.  S.  are  sent  out  repeatedly  by  the  doomed 
ship  as  warning  that  a  call  for  help  is  coming.  All  ships  within  re- 
ceiving distance  shut  down  their  wireless  and  listen  anxiously  for 
the  message  that  will  give  the  ship's  name,  position,  and  the  nature 
of  her  distress.     Then  from  every  quarter  they  crowd  on  steam  to 


200 


THE  MAEVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


rush  to  her  assistance,  repeating  her  message  so  that  no  ship  within 
reach  of  her  will  miss  the  call.  Distress  signals  are  also  shown  at 
night  by  a  special  International  Code  signal,  bj'  giin-firing  and  by  the 
rockets. 

With  all  this  wealth  of  talk  by  flag  and  light,  by  -wireless  and 
rocket,  by  whistles  and  semaphores,  the  ships  are  not  content.  They 
must  have  signals  beneath  the  sea  for  use  in  thick  weather  and  at 


A  LESSON  IN  WIRELESS 


night,  and  so  we  have  submarine  liells  in  all  lightshiiis  and  other  aids 
to  navigation.  Shii)s  love  to  sight  tliese  aids  in  clear  weather  to 
check  up  their  positions,  but  at  night  they  may  be  a  source  of  danger 
and  the  warning  of  the  submarine  bell  is  welcome. 

The  sending  set  of  tlie  submarine  bell  is  an  ordinary  bell,  smaller 
than  a  ship's  bell,  which  is  kept  ringing  by  electricity.  On  the  passing- 
ship  is  the  receiving  set  of  two  small  iron  tanks  filled  with  water,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  ship  well  below  the  waterline.  In  each  is  a  micro- 
phone electrically  connected  with  an  indicator  box  in  the  ship's  pilot 


HOW  THE  SHIPS  TALK  201 

house.  The  bell  sound  coming  through  the  water  passes  through  the 
skin  of  the  ship,  enters  the  water  in  the  iron  tank  and  is  jiicked  up 
by  the  microphone.  It  then  enters  the  indicator  box  which  has  two 
telephone  receivers.  Switches  in  the  indicator  box  allow  the  operator 
to  listen  to  the  sound  picked  up  by  the  port  and  starboard  microphones. 
By  the  loudness  of  the  tone  the  operator  can  tell  on  which  side  of  the 


THE  WIRELESS  ROOM  OF  A  BATTLESHIP 

ship  the  warning  bell  is  ringing.  The  ship  is  swung  in  that  direction, 
and  when  the  sound  is  heard  equally  on  both  sides  he  knows  that  the 
ship  is  pointing  toward  the  bell. 

By  the  skill  and  rapidity  with  which  the  signalmen  of  a  ship 
make  and  read  signals  its  smartness  in  the  Fleet  is  rated.  Mistakes 
or  slowness  in  signals  make  the  offending  ship  a  marked  one  and 
from  the  flagship  comes  a  sharp  reprimand,  for  in  battle  or  emergency 
human  lives  hang  in  the  balance  when  the  signalmen  go  astray.  The 
making  of  expert  signalmen  begins  at  the  naval  training  stations  in 
the  selection  of  keen  and  alert  boys  for  the  signal  squad.  Each  ship 
has  its  signal  officer,  signal  chief  quartermaster,  and  quartermasters 
and  signalmen.    A  flagship  carries  a  squad  of  twenty-odd,  and  night 


202 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


and  day  a  relief  is  stationed  on  the  bridge.  Along  the  bridge  is  the 
sigiial  locker,  with  each  signal  flag  hanging  in  its  own  rack.  Each 
alphabet  flag  is  known  by  a  name  such  as  dog,  cat,  quack,  rush.  The 
reason  for  this  curious  custom  is  that  when  an  order  is  shouted  for 
D  or  C  it  is  easy  to  make  a  mistake.  Instead  the  order  goes  for  Dog 
or  Cat  and  no  mistake  is  possible. 

The  officer  in  charge  orders  a  certain  signal  to  a  sister  ship. 
"Bear  a  hand  there  with  the  Quack!"  sings  out  the  quartermaster. 

Out  from  its  rack 

goes  the  Q  of  the 
alphabet,  and  its 
top  is  toggled  on 
and  its  bottom 
snaphooked  on  the 
signal  halliards  in 
less  time  than  the 
telling  takes.  Then 
away  it  swings  to 
the  5^ard-arm  up 
aloft. 

Each  year  the 
signal  squads  have 
a  keen  competition 
for  the  Correspon- 
dents '  Cup,  pre- 
sented to  the  Fleet  by  the  special  correspondents  who  made  the  famous 
cruise  around  the  globe  with  the  Fleet. 

The  Fleet  is  at  anchor.  There  is  not  a  sign  of  the  impending 
departure  fi-om  the  peaceful  harbor  in  which  the  ships  lie  like  so 
many  immovable  gray  fortresses.  A  hoist  of  gaudy  flags,  giant  but- 
terflies in  the  whipping  breeze,  breaks  out  from  the  flagship.  Boat- 
swains' gangs  swarm  on  the  forecastles  making  ready  the  anchor 
gear.  With  clanking  of  engines  and  thunder  of  anchor  chains  in  the 
hawse  pipes  the  anchors  are  hoisted  and  catheaded.  The  Fleet  gets 
under  way.  The  flagship,  with  her  four-starred  blue  flag  at  masthead, 
leads  the  van.  String  after  string  of  signals  break  out  from  the  yard- 
arm  of  the  flagship,  giving  the  course,  speed,  and  formations.  The 
ships  repeat  them  down  the  long  column.  Out  they  go  to  sea  with 
no  confusion,  no  tumult  and  shouting,  only  the  gay  hoists  of  bunting 
working  the  will  of  the  Admiral  with  his  i^roud  ships. 


Cuurlrsy  a/  '•Our  Nary" 

WINNERS  OF  THE  CORRESPONDENTS'  CUP 


:i:«-^i-fe->>-S 


■«3  -?ft  H  M  M  SS 

•1-.  1 1  .fv"R'-Ei  'H- 


INTERNATIONAL   CODE    FLAGS    AND    PENNANTS 


IJI 


i.iaesiB'^mw 


ENSIGNS   AND    NATIONAL    MERCHANT    FLAGS 


Courtesy  of  "Collier's  Weekly" 

THE  FLEET  LEAVES  HAMPTON  ROADS 


XVIII 


WHEN  THE  FLEET  WENT  ROUND  THE  WORLD 


IN  the  history  of  all  the  navies  of  the  world  there  has  never  been 
anything  so  colorful  as  when  the  American  Battle  Fleet  belted 

the  globe.  It  was  not  only  the  greatest  fighting  force  that  had 
ever  sailed  under  the  American  flag,  but  it  was  the  longest  cruise 
the  fleet  of  any  nation  ever  made.  Sixteen  first-class  battleships,  the 
flower  of  the  Navy,  with  14,000  officers  and  men,  logged  a  total  of 
forty  thousand  miles  on  the  fourteen  months'  ci'uise,  showing  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  in  the  ports  of  nearly  every  one  of  the  world's 
great  nations. 

The  value  of  this  remarkable  cruise  can  hardly  be  estimated. 
It  proved  to  a  doubting  world  that  the  United  States  was  one  of  its 
leading  naval  powers.  It  strengthened  us  in  countries  that  were 
friendly,  and  in  the  few  where  our  relations  were  not  then  all  that 
every  American  could  desire  it  left  a  lasting  impression  that  made 
for  great  good.  It  made  the  Battle  Fleet,  as  it  was  officially  known, 
a  welded  unit  that  came  home  stronger  in  gunnery,  more  skilled  in 
maneuvering  on  the  high  seas,  and  more  efficient,  from  the  main  trucks 
to  the  engine-rooms.    The  countries  of  the  world  strove  to  excel  each 

203 


204 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


other  in  hospitality,  and  the  cruise  was  crowded  with   stirring  and 
unique  incidents. 

Out  from  historic  Hampton  Roads  the  fleet  steamed  on  December 
16,  1907,  President  Theodore  Roosevelt  reviewing  the  column  from 
the  Maytiower  as  it  passed  out  beyond  the  Virginia  Capes.  Fighting 
Bob,  as  Rear-Admiral  Robley  D.  Evans  was  affectionately  known  to 
the  American  people,  was  in  command  on  the  bridge  of  the  flagship 


Courtesy  of  "Collier's  Weekly*' 


THE  FLAGSHIP  "  CONXECTICUT" 


Connecticut.  The  first  of  the  four  divisions,  each  commanded  by  a 
Rear-Admiral,  comprised  the  Connecticut,  Kansas,  Vermont,  and 
Louisiana.  Then  came  the  Georgia,  New  Jersey,  Rhode  Island,  and 
Virginia.  In  the  third  division  came  the  Minnesota,  Ohio,  Missouri, 
and  Maine.  In  the  last  were  the  Alabama,  Illinois,  Kearsarge,  and 
Kentucky.  Each  of  the  ships  steamed  400  yards  astern  of  its  leader. 
At  times  the  Fleet  steamed  in  two  columns;  again  in  columns  of  four; 
and  all  day  long  on  the  cruise  signals  from  the  flagship  sent  the  divi- 
sions hurrying  into  the  formations  that  a  battle  fleet  must  be  expert 
in. 

The  first  port  in  which  anchor  was  dropped  was  at  Trinidad,  where 


WHEN  THE  FLEET  WENT  BOUND  THE  WORLD 


205 


the  ships  celebrated  Christmas  with  the  thermometer  at  90  degrees. 
Each  ship  was  dressed  with  tropical  greens  from  stem  to  stern,  from 
masthead  to  waterline,  and  even  the  turrets  and  their  frowning  guns 
were  wreathed  with  them.  The  day  was  given  to  boat  races  and  other 
sports,  and  to  visiting  parties  that  brought  back  to  their  ships  the 
first  installment  of  pets  that,  by  the  time  the  cruise  was  ended,  would 
have  stocked  a  fair-sized  zoo.    The  torpedo  flotilla,  the  dispatch  l^oat 


Courtesy  of  "Collier's  Weekly' 


NEPTUNE  INITIATES  HIS  SUBJECTS 


Yankton,  the  repair  ship  Panther,  and  the  Glacier  and  the  Culgoa, 
with  supplies  and  coal,  joined  the  fleet  in  this  port. 

Here  came  the  first  interchange  of  official  and  other  courtesies 
that  followed  the  fleet  around  the  world;  and  then  up  anchor  and  the 
Sweet  Sixteen,  as  they  were  nicknamed,  went  "rolling  down  to  Rio." 

Two  great  events  marked  this  run,  with  the  celebration  of  New 
Year's  Day  at  sea,  and  the  crossing  of  the  Line.  Every  sailorman 
has  two  great  ambitions — to  cross  the  Equator  and  round  Cape  Horn. 
The  first  of  these  two  came  true  on  January  6,  1908,  when  the  Battle 
Fleet  entered  Neptune's  domain.  The  ceremony  that  took  place  on 
the  Louisiana  was  typical  of  that  on  the  other  ships.     As  Neptune 


206 


WHEN  THE  FLEET  WENT  ROUND  THE  WOELD   207 


boarded  her  with  his  wife  Amphitrite  and  his  court,  a  red  flag  with 
a  white  sea-serpent  was  broken  out  at  the  main,  for  Neptune  was  in 
command.  Neptune  wore  a  scarlet  robe  with  sea-serpents  embroid- 
ered on  it,  and  a  beard  of  golden  hemp  fringe,  and  carried  a  trident. 
His  wife  was  in  white  with  a 
sea-green  hat,  and  with  her 
was  her  cat.  When  a  land- 
lubber enters  the  waters  that 
Neptune  rules  he  must  be 
duly  initiated. 

Two  tanks  had  been 
erected  on  the  forecastle. 
Over  each  tank  was  sus- 
pended a  chair.  With  much 
ceremony  the  victims  were 
led  to  the  chairs,  where  they 
had  a  mock  shave  and  their 
heads  were  powdered.  At  a 
signal  they  were  dropped 
from  the  chairs  into  the 
tanks,  where  two  of  Nep- 
tune 's  court  seized  and 
ducked  them  in  the  brine,  to 
the  huge  delight  of  the  crew. 
Only  those  who  had  at  some 
time  crossed  the  Line  were 
exempted  from  the  initia- 
tion. All  through  the  quaint 
ceremony  an  enormous  gull 
hovered  over  the  ship,  and 
the  sailors  greeted  it  as  a 
happy  omen.  At  night  a 
barrel  filled  with  oakum  and 
oil  and  tar  was  lighted  and 

dropped  from  the  stern  of  each  battleship,  in  token  of  Neptune's  return 
to  his  kingdom.  The  new  subjects  of  Neptune  were  given  certificates 
bordered  with  deep-sea  designs  and  the  mock  Neptune  witli  his  wife 
and  court  went  back  to  their  old  posts  in  the  ranks  of  the  Fleet. 

In  Rio  de  Janeiro,  which  all  sailormen  will  tell  you  is  the  most 
beautiful  harbor  in  the  world,  the  Battle  Fleet  was  royally  enter- 
tained for  two  weeks.    Each  day  2,000  bluejackets  and  marines  went 


MAKING  LIBERTY  AT  RIO  JANEIRO 


208 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


ashore,  and,  as  one  of  the  officers  expressed  it,  they  were  hterally 
stunned  by  the  hospitality  of  the  Brazilians. 

On  the  way  to  Punta  Arenas,  Chile,  the  next  port  to  call,  came 
one  of  the  memorable  incidents  of  the  ci-uise.  Of¥  the  River  Plata 
the  Argentine  Fleet  steamed  out  to  meet  our  ships.  Guns  barked, 
marine  detachments  ]3resented  arms,  and  the  sigiial  yards  were  bright 


A  BIT  OF  XAVKiATIO.N  l.\  THE  .STHAms 


with  the  greetings  of  the  two  fleets.  No  such  honor  had  ever  before 
been  extended  the  fleet  of  any  nation. 

Now  the  crews  shifted  from  white  to  blue,  as  the  airs  grew 
bracing.  One  day  the  columns  steamed  into  Possession  Bay,  with 
the  mountains  of  Patagonia  sheltering  it,  and  on  the  first  of  Febru- 
ary dropped  anchor  at  Punta  Arenas,  Chile,  for  coal  and  liberty.  It 
was  an  odd  port,  with  its  tongue  stretching  out  into  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  and  one  rarely  visited  by  an  American  man  o 'war.  Here 
two  Chilean  cruisers,  another  graceful  compliment  of  the  South  Amer- 
ican countries,  joined  to  lead  the  Battle  Fleet  through  the  Straits. 

The  Straits  of  Magellan  have  an  evil  name  with  sailor  folk.  They 
are  360  miles  long  and  their  width  runs  from  a  mile  and  a  half  to 


Photo  by  Pavl  Thompson,  X.  Y. 

READY  FOR  REVIEW  IN  SYDNEY,  AUSTRALIA 


A   srUKEI-  PARADE  IN  MELBOURNE 
209 


210 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


SKiHT.SEEING  IN  CHINA 


twenty-five  miles. 
Never  before  had 
a  fleet  of  steel 
monsters  passed 
through  the 
stretch  of  water, 
with  its  heavy 
fogs,  its  treacher- 
ous currents  that 
run  like  mill-races, 
its  shores  capped 
by  giant  glaciers 
and  snow-topped 
m  o  u  11 1  a  i  ns.    In 

daylight  the  run  was  made  in  safety,  until  the  long,  zigzagging  column 

had  left  the  scene  of  weird  beauty  for  the  heaving  swells  of  the  Pacific. 

The  horn  had  not  been  rounded,  for  only  sailing  ships  take  that  long 

route  now. 

AVhat  the  Battle  Fleet  remembers  as  the  most  unique  welcome  of 

the  cruise  followed.     In  and  out  of  the  crescent-shaped  harbor   of 

Valparaiso,  Chile,  the  fighting  machines,  now  headed  north,  passed. 

Tlie  shores  were  black  with  peojile,  and  on  the  terrace  of  the  Chilean 

naval  station  were  stretched  the  cadets  in  white,  forming  the  word 

Welcome.     Salutes  were  exchanged,  each  battleship  roaring  out  its 

salvo,  and  President  Montt  of  Chile  reviewed  the  moving  fleet  from 

the  deck  of  a  Chilean  warship. 
At     C  a  11  a  o, 

Peru,     the     Battle 

Fleet  stopped  for  a 

stay   filled   with   a 

great  bull  fight, 

trips  to  the  top  of 

the    Andes    and 

other    points. 

"Wherever  they 

w  e  n  t   our   m  e  n 

found    the    Peru- 
vian and  American 

flags  intertwinetl. 
Two     days 

ahead  of  the  Navv  m  r  mu  a  ku  kshaw  hidi-;  in  colomho 


1 


WHEN  tup:  fleet  WENT  ROUND  THE  WORLD   211 


Department's  schedule  the  ships  came  to  Magdalena  Bay,  Mexico,  for  a 
month's  hard  work  at  battle  practice.  They  had  been  reviewed  by  the 
Presidents  of  the  United  States,  Brazil,  Chile,  and  Peru. 

Then  came  brief  stops  at  San  Diego  and  other  California  ports, 
and  on  May  6,  1908,  the  Battle  Fleet  passed  through  the  beautiful 
Golden  Gate  and  into  the  crowded  harbor  of  San  Francisco.  The 
actual  steaming  time  from  Hampton  Roads  to  the  Golden  Gate  for 
13,750  sea  miles  had  been  (51  days  and  19  hours.  Without  the  time 
given  to  maneuvers  and  social  duties  the  Battle  Fleet  had  proved  to 
Washington  that,  in  time  of  need,  it  could  have  been  sent  into  the 
Pacific  in  78  days. 

Admiral  Evans  had  given  up  his  command  just  prior  to  his  ar- 


GIBIL^LTAU  WAS  THE  LAST  FOREIGN  PORT 


rival  at  San  Francisco.  Up  to  Seattle  and  Tacoma  went  the  Fleet,  and 
a  month  later,  under  Rear-Admiral  Charles  S.  Sperry,  it  sailed  for 
Honolulu.  There  was  a  week's  stay  at  this  American  outpost,  with 
its  wonderful  scenery  and  water  sports,  and  then  on  to  Auckland,  New 
Zealand.  Here  were  trips  to  the  famous  geysers  and  the  warlike 
dances  of  the  Maori  tribes  for  the  liberty  parties,  and  then  came  the 
Australian  ports  of  Sydney,  Melbourne,  and  Albany. 

The  rifle  experts  of  the  Battle  Fleet  shot  matches  with  the  pick 
of  Australia's  noted  riflemen,  and  at  Melbourne  the  Louisiana,  holder 
of  the  Battenberg  Cup,  defeated  the  crack  Australian  crew  of  the 
British  cruiser  Challenger,  which  had  not  until  that  time  known  de- 
feat. At  Sydney  and  Melbourne  the  brigade  of  sailors  and  marines 
were  reviewed  by  the  Governor  of  Australia  in  a  land  parade. 

Then  came  strange  waters,  unfrequented  by  the  battleships  of 
any  nation,   as   the   Fleet   ran   through  the   Lombok  and  Macassar 


OJO 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Straits,  names  made  famous  by  Kipling,  into  tlie  Strait  of  Basilan, 
the  entrance  to  our  Philippine  Avaters,  past  the  American  post  at  Zam- 
boanga  and  up  to  Manila.  Manila  gave  itself  up  to  carnivals  and 
other  forms  of  celebration  in  which  Americans,  Spaniards,  and  Fili- 
pinos joined;  and  then  up  anchor  for  Yokohama,  the  favorite  seaport 
of  Japan. 

The  Tm]ierial  Ciovernment  of  Ja])an  made  the  stay  of  the  Battle 


CoHrlcsu  of  ■■Cull. 


THE  FLEET  COMES  BACK  TO  HAMPTON  ROADS 


Fleet  in  Japanese  waters  one  memorable  for  the  lavish  scale  of  hos- 
pitality and  the  many  courtesies  shown  to  officers  and  men.  The 
visit  had  strengthened  the  old  friendship  between  the  United  States 
and  the  lilmpire  of  the  ^likado,  and  the  United  States  Navy  had 
another  diplomatic  victory  to  its  credit. 

From  Yokohama  the  ships  returned  to  Manila  for  target  practice, 
and  one  squadron  went  to  Amoy,  China,  to  pay  that  great  nation  a 
visit.  The  entire  Fleet  assembled  next  at  Colombo,  Ceylon.  Christ- 
mas, the  second  since  the  Fleet  had  begun  its  task  of  encircling  the 
globe,  was  celebrated  at  sea  during  a  run  of  great  interest  through 
the  Indian  Ocean,  the  Red  Sea,  and  the  Suez  Canal. 


WHEN  THP]  FLEET  AVENT  EOUND  THE  WORLD       213 

At  Port  Said  the  Fleet  separated,  to  visit  the  ^Mediterranean 
ports  of  Smj-rna,  Genoa,  Algiers,  Marseilles,  and  others,  giving  to 
Asia,  Africa,  and  Europe  a  demonstration  of  the  part  that  the  Navy 
of  the  United  States  played  in  the  world's  affairs.  The  great  eartli- 
quake  at  Messina,  Sicily,  occurred  during  the  stay  at  Port  Said,  and 
several  of  the  ships  steamed  close  to  the  ruined  city  on  the  shores 
of  the  Strait  of  Sicily  ready,  as  an  American  fleet  has  always  been, 
to  give  aid  to  a  stricken  people. 

In  the  shadow  of  the  famous  Rock  of  Gibraltar  the  Fleet  showed 
its  formidable  strength,  and  then  steamed  westward,  out  of  the  inland 
sea  to  the  Atlantic  at  the  end  of  January. 

Eear-Admiral  Charles  S.  Sperry  flew  his  two-starred  flag  from 
the  flagship  Connecticut  when  the  Battle  Fleet  passed  in  revieAV  be- 
fore President  Roosevelt  at  Hampton  Roads  three  weeks  later. 

The  cruise  of  the  Battle  Fleet  had  gone  down  into  historv. 


Courtesy  uj  "Cullu 


Weiklu" 

WHEN  THE  FLEET  WENT  ROUND  THE  WORLD 


THE  SPECTACLE  REEF  LIGHT  STATION 


XIX 


SENTINELS  OF  THE   SEA 


WHEN  a  ship  is  at  sea  her  captain  lays  her  course  by  the  stars 
at  night  and  the  sun  by  day,  but  when  from  the  crow's  nest 
the  cry  is  raised:  "Land  ho!"  then  he  looks  for  some  famil- 
iar landmark.  No  harbor  entrance  is  without  them,  no  hidden  shoal 
or  dangerous  reef  that  is  not  mai-ked  in  some  way,  or  else  the  coast 
would  be  strewn  with  the  rotting  hulks  of  liners  and  merchantmen, 
and  every  gale  that  swept  the  coast  would  leave  its  toll  of  lost  ships 
and  drowned  in  its  wake. 

So  the  captain  sweeps  the  coastline  with  his  glasses  until  they 
show  the  image  of  a  stout-hulled  lightship  with  its  stumpy  masts,  or 
of  a  lighthouse's  tower  rising  sheer  from  the  sea  on  its  base  of  hidden 
I'ock,  or  perched  high  up  on  some  commanding  point  of  the  mainland. 
If  it  is  at  night  he  can  tell  from  the  nature  of  the  light  that  they  carry 
which  of  the  hundreds  on  the  coast  it  is.  It  may  sweep  its  beam  of 
light  in  a  slow-moving  circle,  or  hold  straight  out  to  sea  in  a  fixed 
lance  of  white.  Again  it  may  wink  its  friendly  eye  over  the  water, 
shutting  it  ten  seconds  out  of  every  half  minute  or  so. 

The  story  of  these  sentinels,  beacons  by  day,  and  gleaming  by 

214 


215 


216 


THE  MAKVEL  BOf)K  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


night,  is  one  of  romance  and  jjorils,  of  timely  warnings  and  of  tragic 
wrecl\S,  of  wintry  gales  juid  dangerous  fogs,  and  above  all  of  the 
triumphs  of  American  engineers.  No  other  nation  has  such  a  great 
and  varied  shore  to  protect  in  the  interests  of. the  shipping  of  the 

woild,  and  no  other  has  lighted 
its  coastline  in  the  face  of  such 
obstacles.  Here  a  stretch  of 
rockbound  shore,  and  fartlier 
south  leagues  of  sand-dunes, 
which  give  way  still  farther  south 
to  the  reefs  of  coral  where  the 
West  Indian  hurricanes  bring 
death  and  ruin  in  their  path:  so 
runs  the  Atlantic  Coast.  Cliffs 
rise  sheer  from  the  water's  edge 
on  a  shore  where  fogs  hover  for 
weeks  at  a  time,  and  hidden  pin- 
nacles thrust  their  fingers  of  rock 
upward:  so  runs  the  Pacific 
Coast.  The  Philippine  archipel- 
ago is  threaded  with  swift  cur- 
rents and  hidden  I'eefs,  and  the 
waters  that  wash  the  shores  of 
Porto  Rico,  Hawaii,  and  Alaska 
are  under  our  care. 

As  far  back  as  331  b.c.  the 
ancients  were  alive  to  the  need  of 
aid  to  their  shipping  and  they 
built  the  first  of  lighthouses,  the 
famous  Pharos,  one  of  the  ancient 
wonders  of  the  world,  to  guide 
seafaring  men  into  the  harbor  of 
Alexandria.  Its  huge  bonfire  of 
wood  burned  all  night  long  for  a  century  and  a  half. 

The  first  American  lighthouse  was  built  at  the  entrance  to  Boston 
Harbor  by  the  Province  of  j\lassachusetts  in  1715,  and  it  was  not  until 
1789  that  the  Government  took  charge  of  the  lighting  of  our  coasts 
and  inland  waters.  The  United  States  Lighthouse  Service  is  now 
chai'ged  with  that  work,  with  its  land  and  sea  marks  to  aid  the  naviga- 
tion of  vessels.  In  Panama  the  Canal  Government  looks  out  for  its 
safeguards  and  in  the  Philippines  the  Insular  Government.  , 


THE    SCREW     PILE    STATION    1\     ILOKn)A 
WATERS 


SENTINELS  OF  TPIE  SEA 


217 


The  two  most  famous  of  our  lighthouses  are,  curiously  enough, 
separated  by  the  width  of  the  continent,  and  the  third  is  halfway  be- 
tween. The  Minot's  Ledge  Light,  off  the  coast  of  Massachusetts, 
yields  to  no  other  light  in  the  world  in  its  fame,  not  even  to  the  Eddy- 
stone  Light  in  England,  after  which  it  was  patterned.  There  is 
scarcely  a  forecastle  in  the  Seven  Seas  that  has  not  its  tale  of  Minot 
Ledge.  Every  engineer  knows  it  as  one  of  the  greatest  victories  ever 
wrested  from  the  sea  and  its  fury.  Its  base  is  that  of  a  hidden  reef, 
long  the  terror  of  mariners,  and  the  most  seaward  of  a  clusters  of  reefs 
that  has  given  that 
part  of  the  New 
England  coast  a 
dread  name. 

The  first  tower 
erected  there  in 
1851  did  not  sur- 
vive the  first  gale, 
and  Minot's  Ledge 
went  on  exacting 
its  deepsea  toll  of 
ships  and  men. 
Then  it  w  a  s  de- 
cided to  build  a 
new  beacon  of 
stone,  with  the 
conical  tower  of  the  Eddystone  Light  as  a  model.  It  was  five  years 
before  it  was  finished  and  anchored  to  the  hidden  reef;  and  then  the 
gales  which  swept  the  ledge  were  routed  by  American  skill. 

On  the  Pacific  Coast  there  was  no  more  evil  point  for  shipping 
than  where  the  Columl)ia  River  empties  into  the  cliff-bound  shore 
line  of  Oregon.  For  1,500  feet  above  the  water's  edge  the  cliffs  rear 
their  heads.  At  their  bases  the  sea  is  studded  with  rocks  and  reefs, 
and  fogs  haunt  it,  making  it  a  veritable  deathtrap  for  passing  craft. 
To  build  on  the  mainland  was  l;o  shroud  the  light  in  heavy  fogs  or 
in  the  smoke  of  forest  fires,  so  it  was  decided  to  place  the  light  on 
Tillamook  Rock,  which  rises  a  scant  hundred  feet  above  water  one 
mile  out  to  sea.  The  waves  that  broke  with  shattering  force  across 
it  defied  the  engineers  in  vain,  and  its  final  erection  was  a  triumph 
over  obstacles  that  seemed  to  mock  the  toil  of  men. 

Four  men  were  finally  landed  on  the  lone  rock  from  a  revenue 
cutter,  and  all  stores  and  men  after  that  had  to  be  transported  from 


THE    TILLAMOOK    LUiHT    IS    A    MILE    OUT    TO    SEA    ON    THE 
OREGON  COAST 


218 


thp:  :\rARVEL  book  of  American  ships 


tlie  cutter  to  the  rock  by  an  improvised  breeches  buoy.  It  took  more 
than  a  year  and  a  half  of  working  days  before  the  light  of  its  160,000 
candle-jDower  flashed  out,  showing  eighteen  miles  at  sea  in  fair 
weather. 

The  Great  Lakes  are  famous  for  the  furious  storms  that  rage 

over  them  when 
they  are  ice-bound 
in  winter.  Then 
the  pounding  of 
heavy  ice  floes  at 
the  base  of  exposed 
lighthouses  calls 
for  a  new  skill  in 
their  building  to 
resist  the  attack  of 
ice  and  gales.  One 
of  the  worst  spots 
is  kno^\^l  as  Spec- 
tacle Reef,  a  name 
given  because  its 
two  hidden  shoals 
are  shaped  like  a 
pair  of  spectacles. 
It  lies  where  the 
Strait  of  Mackinac 
leads  from  Lake 
H  u  r  o  n  to  Lake 
Michigan,  and  is  a 
frightful  place  in 
storms.  As  it  was 
impossible  to  work 
in  winter,  when  ice 
floes  battered  at 
the  submerged 
shoals,  it  was  four  years  before  the  Spectacle  Reef  Light  was  fanished. 
One  spring,  when  the  keepers  returned  to  man  the  light,  they  had  to 
cut  their  way  through  a  frozen  mass  of  ice  thirty  feet  high  and  seven 
feet  deep  that  barred  the  door. 

Canada  shares  with  the  United  States  the  lighting  of  the  Great 
Lakes,  with  throe-fifths  of  the  eleven  hundred  lights  under  our  con- 
trol. 


lIKill  UP  ON  THE  CALIFORNIA  COAST 


THE  BLACK  AND  WHITE  STRIPED  HATTERAS  LIGHT 
219 


220  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

Still  another  stirring  fight  was  staged  between  man  and  sea 
before  the  Race  Rock  Light,  off  New  London,  Connecticut,  first  sent 
out  its  w'arning  on  New  Year's  Day,  in  1879.  The  top  of  a  ledge 
over  which  a  swift  current  raced  had  to  be  leveled  off  by  divers  be- 
fore a  foot  of  the  tower  could  be  raised. 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  the  first  construction  that  proved  a 
success  in  ice-bound  waters  proved  also  to  be  the  best  type  in  the  semi- 
tropical  waters,  where  lights  guard  the  Florida  coast  and  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  The  screw  pile  which  bores  in  like  an  auger  proved  the 
solution  for  the  base  of  coral  rock. 

Many  of  our  early  lighthouses  were  frame  buildings  on  the  main- 
land. As  engineering  skill  met  and  won  over  the  obstacles  of  swift 
water  and  sea-bound  reefs,  the  work  of  protecting  shipping  by  these 
water-bound  sentinels  has  met  with  but  one  failure. 

The  evil  name  of  Cape  Hatteras  is  such  that  sailors  called  this 
stretch  of  the  coast  The  Sailor's  Graveyard.  North  of  here  was  the 
wreck  of  the  IT.  S.  S.  Huron,  in  1877,  the  first  iron  ship  of  our  Na\'y, 
in  which  her  captain  and  many  officers  and  men  were  lost.  After  this 
wreck  lights  were  placed  along  the  coast  which  runs  from  Cape  Henry 
to  Cape  Hatteras,  a  lightship  was  moored  well  out  from  the  danger 
of  the  Diamond  Shoals,  and  the  old  name  died  out.  The  ocean  breaks 
white  with  fury  over  the  Diamond  Shoals  well  out  from  the  mainland. 
Ships  that  blunder  into  those  hissing  breakers  find  themselves  help- 
less in  the  swirling  currents  and  the  grip  of  the  shifting,  sucking- 
sands.  The  chances  of  rounding  Hatteras  on  a  quiet  day  are  rare, 
and  until  the  Diamond  Shoals  Lightship  was  placed  it  was  a  hazardous 
undertaking. 

All  ships  coming  from  the  south  to  the  United  States  have  to 
cross  the  Gulf  Stream,  which  hugs  the  shore  at  Hatteras.  The  three- 
knot  equatorial  current,  meeting  the  cold  water  of  the  North,  breeds 
mist  and  nasty  weather.  On  one  side  of  the  stream  you  wear  Arctic 
overshoes  and  on  the  other  are  in  bare  feet.  But  Hatteras  is  a  valuable 
aid  to  navigation  and  must  be  picked  up.  The  lightship  throws  its 
friendly  light,  but  Diamond  Shoals  has  mocked  all  attempts  to  rear 
a  lighthouse  on  its  treacherous  sands. 

The  highest  light  on  the  American  coast  is  at  Cajje  [Mendocino, 
on  the  Californian  coast,  which  throws  its  340,000  candle-power  light 
ten  out  of  every  thirty  seconds  from  a  height  of  422  feet  above  the 
sea.  Its  light  can  be  seen  twenty-eight  miles  at  sea  in  fair  weather. 
On  the  Pacific  Coast  the  towers  are  usually  low,  as  they  are  mounted 


SENTINP]LS  OF  THE  SP]A 


221 


on  high  shores,  while  on  the  low  Atlantic  seaboard  high  towers  are 
the  rule. 

Brightest  of  the  lights  is  that  at  Navesink  Highlands,  at  the  door 
to  New  York  Bay,  wth  its  candle-power  of  25,000,000.  The  rays  of 
its  glare  have  been  seen  seventy  miles  at  sea.     It  is  one  of  the  few 


THE  PIGEON  ruINT  LKIHT  IS  TYPICAL  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST 


electrically  lighted  beacons,  with  a  powerful  electric  arc  enclosed  in 
a  lens  that  magnifies  its  light. 

Largest  of  all  the  lenses  used  is  that  at  Makapuu  Point,  the  land- 
fall light  for  vessels  bound  from  the  United  States  to  Hawaii. 

Oddest  of  all  the  lights  is  that  at  Cape  Spartel  on  the  Moroccan 
Coast  at  the  western  entrance  to  the  ^Mediterranean,  for  we  share 
with  seven  European  countries  the  care  and  expense  of  this  African 
light  which  impoverished  ^lorocco  built  but  could  not  keep. 

Where  lighthouses  are  not  possible,  as   on  Diamond  Shoals,  to 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


mark  off  shore  dangers,  and  in  the  approaches  to  harbors  or  chan- 
nels, lightships  are  used.    The  first  was  built  by  the  English  to  mark 

the  Nore  Sands  off 
the  mouth  of  the 
T  li  a  m  e  s,  as  far 
back  as  1732,  with 
lanterns  hung  from 
its  yard-aiiu.  Our 
pioneer  light  vessel 
rode  at  anchor  at 
Willoughby  Spit, 
Hampton  Roads,  in 
1820.  Now  we  have 
a  total  of  53,  with 
13  relief  vessels  to 
take  their  places 
when  the  regular 
ships  are  brought 
in  for  docking  and 
repairs. 

As  lighthouses 
are  distinguished 
in  d  a  y  t  i  m  e  by 
markings  of  r  e  d 
and  black,  or  red 
and  white,  some- 
times in  spirals 
and  at  others  in 
checkerboards,  the 
light  vessels  have 
their  hulls  painted 
red  or  straw  color, 
w  i  t  li  other  com- 
binations, a  n  d 
t  h  ('  i  r  n  a  m  e  is 
painted  on  the  side 
in  large  letters. 
With  their  odd 
shape  and  rig,  and  usually  a  cage  as  a  day-mark  at  the  mastheads,  they 
are  most  welcome  siglits  to  inl)ound  ships.  They  carry  both  a  light  at 
night  and  a  fog-signal,  and  ships  can  run  close  by  them  without  danger, 


BRIGHTEST  OF  LIGHTS  IS  THE  NAVESINK 


THE  LENS  OF  THE  KILAUEA  LIOHT  IN  HAWAIIAN  WATERS 
223 


THE   NANl'L'CKlil    8I10AL.S   LI(illT8HlF   K^)LL,-^   l.N    JHE   s  I'KAMSUll'    l-A.SK.s    KOKIA    MILES 
OUT  FROM  SHORP: 


THE  DIAMOND  SHOALS  LIGHTSHIP 
22-1 


THE  LicHTSHii'  ri;\iii:i;  "  ikkn 


THE  SENTINEL  OF  THE  GOLDEN  GATE 
22.5 


1 


226 


SENTINELS  OF  TPIE  SEA  227 

fixing  their  positions  in  a  fog  with  much  more  certainty  than  in  the 
case  of  lighthouses  equipped  with  a  fog  signal. 

There  is  something  very  appealing  in  the  sighting  of  a  lightship 
well  out  from  the  coast,  for  it  is  not  hard  to  picture  the  monotony, 
the  drab  routine,  the  discomforts  in  rough  weather,  and  the  isolated 
lives  that  the  crew  leads.  Every  effort  is  made  to  give  them  shore 
leave,  to  provide  them  with  libraries,  fresh  provisions  and  mail;  but 
at  times  they  are  absolutely  cut  off  from  the  world  when  wintry  gales 
rage  and  toss  them  about  like  shells.  Those  stationed  in  the  channels 
that  lead  to  great  steamship  piers  can  even  see  the  lights  of  the  great 
city,  yet  they  are  cut  off  from  it  as  much  in  such  times  as  though  they 
were  in  the  middle  of  a  desert. 

Four  of  our  lightships  are  equipped  with  wireless,  which  the  Navy 
works  as  a  part  of  its  coast  radio  system.  One  of  them,  the  Nantucket 
Shoals  Lightship,  is  more  than  forty  miles  from  shore  and  is  the 
first  to  be  sighted  by  travelers,  for  it  stands  pluckily  out  in  the  steam- 
ship lanes.  Her  crew  is  a  large  one,  with  four  officers  and  ten  men, 
wliile  less  exposed  ones  carry  but  a  crew  of  three.  Inside  the  hollow 
steel  mast,  which  houses  a  ladder,  is  a  regular  lighthouse  lens,  and 
on  the  largest  a  12-inch  steam  whistle  is  used  for  a  fog-sigiial.  A 
submarine  bell  is  operated  under  water,  giving  the  lightship's  num- 
ber when  fogs  shroud  the  sea. 

AVhile  the  lightships  are  knov.-n  by  the  name  of  their  station,  the 
tenders  which  supply  them  are  named  after  a  plant  or  flower  common 
to  the  district:  Lilac,  Fern,  Snoiidrop,  Ivy,  or  Water-lily. 

How  does  a  captain  make  sure  of  the  lights  that  are  flashed  at 
night  when  he  approaches  the  coast!  If  he  is  making  for  the  light 
off  Hatteras  his  chart  shows  this  legend:  "Cape  Hatteras.  Fl.  W.  (> 
sec.  Flash  1.4  sec.  Eclipse  4.6  sec."  Sighting  the  ligiit,  he  takes 
out  his  watch  and  times  flash  and  eclipse  and  in  that  way  knows  his 
light  and  its  characteristics. 

The  first  lights  were  fixed,  but  now  the  more  important  have 
lights  that  either  flash  or  occult.  This  is  regailated  by  a  clockwork 
mechanism  that  governs  the  light  and  the  dark  periods.  The  fixed  lights 
vary  at  intervals  with  one  or  more  flashes,  usually  of  greater  brilliance ; 
while  a  flash  begins  or  follows  with  a  lessening  of  the  light  or  total 
eclipse,  the  flash  being  an  interval  shorter  than  the  eclipse.  When 
a  light  is  occulting  its  steady  light  is  suddenly  and  totally  eclipsed 
at  regular  intervals  shorter  than  or  equal  to  the  duration  of  the 
light. 

While  the  white  light  is  more  powerful  in  a  fog  red  lights  are 


228  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

used  to  mark  outlying  dangers  near  the  light  or  the  limits  of  a  channel. 
The  light  shows  white  when  a  passing  vessel  is  clear  of  the  dangers 
but,  thi-ough  a  screen  of  colored  glass,  shows  red  as  the  shoal  or  other 
danger  is  approached.  Then  the  prudent  skipper  changes  his  course 
until  the  white  light  shows. 

There  is  nothing  he  dreads  more  tlian  threading  his  way  througli 
a  fog,  for  even  the  fog-signals  play  odd  tricks  at  times,  the  sounds 
seeming  to  come  from  one  direction  when  they  are  actually  sent  from 
another.  There  is  also  what  might  be  called  the  phenomena  of  "air 
pockets,"  when  signals  cannot  be  heard  by  ships  close  by,  although 
those  more  distant  hear  them  distinctly.  The  Lighthouse  Service 
has  its  minor  aids  to  rob  the  fogs  of  their  dangers.  If  you  have 
ever  heard  the  mournful  fog-horn  and  the  unceasing  strokes  of  a  bell 
or  the  weird  whistle  of  buoys  you  can  never  forget  the  uncanny  feel- 
ings they  stir.  Seguin,  Maine,  is  the  place  for  anj'  one  who  enjoys 
those  ghostly  warnings,  for  there  the  waters  are  hung  with  blankets 
and  vapors  of  gray  fog  one-third  of  the  year.  Out  on  the  Pacific 
Coast  sounding-boards  are  erected  at  some  points,  so  that  a  steamer's 
whistle  brings  a  quick  echo. 

The  bronze  bells  of  the  bell  buoys  are  struck  by  iron  clappers 
moved  by  the  motion  of  the  waves.  The  falling  of  the  whistling  buoys 
in  the  seaway  forces  air  through  the  whistle  on  its  superstructure. 
Horn  signals  are  worked  by  hand  and  the  fog-g-un  by  acetylene.  Whis- 
tling buoys  are  moored  in  the  rough  outside  waters,  while  the  otliers 
are  used  in  inside  waters. 

In  daytime  our  channels  are  marked  by  buoys,  which  are  given 
odd  shapes,  marked  by  numbers,  and  colored  in  various  ways.  Some 
are  red  and  black,  while  others  have  white  and  black  stripes  running 
up  and  down.  On  their  tops  are  cages,  balls,  or  other  marks,  all  with 
meanings  for  the  pilot.  At  night  lighted  gas  buoys  mark  the  most 
prominent  shoals  and  channels  and  they  are  the  most  valuable  of  all 
the  minor  aids  to  navigation  that  make  Safety  First  the  coastwise 
motto  of  Uncle  Sam. 


AMEKICAN  BATTLESHIPS  IN  CHAGRES  RIVER 


XX 


FOLLOWING  OUR  SHIPS  THROUGH  THE  PANAMA  CANAL 


TO  send  a  ship  from  ocean  to  ocean  through  the  Panama  Canal  is 
as  easy  for  a  shipowner  as  to  write  the  check  for  the  sum  that 
will  cover  the  expense  of  the  vessel's  passing  through.  When 
the  Government  receives  the  check  it  will  attend  to  every  detail  and 
mail  him  back  the  change  if  there  is  any.  From  the  Atlantic  entrance 
at  Colon,  to  the  Balboa  exit  on  the  Pacific  side,  is  but  a  trip  of  ten 
hours.  One-third  of  that  time  is  spent  in  the  locks  that  lift  the  ship 
from  coast  to  coast,  and  the  wnzard  of  electricity  governs  every  moment 
of  the  time  spent  in  them. 

Back  of  this  startling  simplicity  lies  an  amazing  story.  Ever 
since  the  wonderful  voyages  of  discovery  that  began  with  that  of 
America  by  Columbus,  admirals  and  rulers,  merchants  and  adventurers, 
dreamed  and  schemed  of  the  day  when  the  argosies  of  the  world  should 
find  an  all-water  way  that  would  lead  ever  westward  from  Europe  to 

229 


230  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  A:\IERTCAN  SHIPS 

the  Far  East,  across  the  Atkntic  and  the  broad  Pacific.  Thousands  of 
men,  of  high  and  low  degree,  of  the  white,  black,  and  yellow  races, 
laid  down  their  lives  before  those  di-eams  came  true.  Fortunes  were 
staked  and  lost.  Spain,  England,  Portugal,  and  France  in  turn  took 
up  the  dream  and  its  burdens  and  failed. 

Balboa,  one  of  Spain's  hardiest  soldiers  of  fortune,  was  the  first 
white  man  to  cross  the  Isthmus,  stalked  by  fever  and  fought  by  the 
Indians.  It  took  him  twenty-three  days.  Four  hundred  years  then 
passed  before  the  silver  threads  of  the  canal  waters  were  strung  from 
coast  to  coast.  In  the  meantime  Morgan  and  his  buccaneers  had  laid 
the  Isthmus  waste,  revolutions  had  marked  its  stormy  history,  and 
the  gold-hunters  of  '49  had  crossed  it  in  droves  to  avoid  the  long  trip 
across  the  western  plains  with  its  danger  of  hostile  Indians. 

AVhen  Americans  first  came  under  the  spell  that  had  lured  the 
countries  of  the  Old  World  to  this  great  project  Congress  ajjpointed 
the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission  to  make  a  study  of  the  problem.  As 
a  result  of  its  surveys  of  Central  America  all  possible  routes  for  a 
canal  were  set  aside  for  the  rival  claims  of  the  Panama  and  Nicaragua 
routes.  Since  1883  a  French  Company,  under  the  famous  De  Lesseps, 
who  drove  the  Suez  Canal  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Red  Sea, 
had  spent  millions  trying  to  build  the  Panama  Canal.  One  year  before 
the  successful  revolution  of  the  State  of  Panama  against  the  United 
States  of  Colombia,  in  the  winter  of  19(Jo,  the  American  Commission 
had  decided  for  the  Panama  route.  The  French  had  stopped  all  work 
and  it  was  on  May  -i,  1904,  that  our  Government  took  charge  of  a  strip 
of  land  ten  miles  wide  running  across  the  Isthmus  and  called  it  the 
Canal  Zone. 

Then  came  a  long  fight  between  those  who  favored  a  sea-level 
canal  and  those  who  chami)ioned  a  lock  canal.  The  sea-level  would 
be  less  exposed  to  danger  in  time  of  war  and  the  expense  of  maintain- 
ing it  less.  The  lock  canal  would  cost  half  as  much  more,  take  half  the 
time  to  build  and  ships  could  pass  through  more  quickly.  Whether  it 
should  be  a  lock  canal  like  the  Soo  between  Lakes  Stiperior  and  Huron, 
or  sea-level  like  the  Suez,  was  finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  locks.  In 
1906  actual  work  was  begun,  and  it  was  only  ten  years  from  the  time 
that  the  Government  stepped  into  the  breach  before  this  golden 
waterway  lay  open  for  the  commerce  of  the  nations. 

Panama,  which  lies  directly  south  from  New  Yoi'k,  is  a  land  of 
contradictions.  Colon,  the  city  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  lies  twenty  miles 
to  the  westward  of  Panama  City  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  When  dawn 
breaks  in  Panama  City  you  see  the  sun  rise  out  of  the  Pacific  Ocean! 


THE  DEEPEST  CUT  IN  THE  BACKBONE  OF  THE  ANDES 


THE  GATUN  SPILLWAY  WITH  SEVEN  GATES  OPEN 
231 


232 


A  FREIGHTER  STEAMING  THROUGH  APPROACH  TO  CULEBRA  CUT 


THE  S.  S.  "CRISTOBAL"  IN  PEDRO  MIGUEL  LOCKS 
233 


THROUGH  Tin^]  PANAMA  CANAL  235 

When  a  battleship,  an  ocean  greyhound,  or  a  freighter  nears  tlie 
Canal  its  wireless  splutters  its  blue  sparks  while  the  captain  reports 
her  name,  nationality,  tonnage,  length,  and  draft.  If  he  wishes  coal 
or  oil  it  is  ready  for  him  when  he  enters  the  channel  at  Limon  Bay.  If 
he  wishes  provisions  of  any  sort  they  will  be  delivered  to  him  at  any 
point  he  names.  From  Limon  Bay  to  Gatun  the  ship  runs  through  a 
sea-level  canal  for  seven  miles;  and  here  an  operator,  with  the  touch 
of  a  lever,  walks  it  upstairs  to  the  great  Gatun  Locks.  At  this  new- 
level  an  electric  towing  locomotive  takes  the  ship  in  hand,  hauling  her 
at  a-mile-an-hour  speed.  There  are  three  levels  at  Gatun,  and  they 
lift  a  ship  85  feet  in  all  before  she  steams  into  Gatun  Lake,  the  largest 
artificial  lake  in  the  world. 

Each  lock  is  built  with  two  parallel  chambers  so  that  vessels 
moving  in  opposite  directions,  north  or  southbound,  can  use  the  same 
flight  of  locks  at  the  same  time.  They  are  all  of  the  uniform  length 
of  1,000  feet  and  110  feet  wide,  and  the  water  in  the  locks  varies  from 
80  feet,  while  a  vessel  is  being  loAvered  or  "locked"  down,  to  45  feet 
while  she  is  being  lifted  or  "locked"  up.  Massive  steel  gates  block 
the  channels  of  the  lock,  cutting  oft'  the  flow  of  water;  and  steel  and 
concrete  divide  the  lock  into  its  chambers.  Concrete  and  steel  are  the 
bone  and  sinew  of  the  locks. 

A  ship  passing  through  enters  a  lock  as  it  would  a  dry  dock,  the 
gates  acting  as  the  caisson  of  the  dry  dock.  As  water  is  pumped  into 
the  lock  the  ship  rises  with  it.  In  this  simple  manner  it  is  raised  to  a 
higher  level  and  when  the  gates  are  swung  open  passes  on  into  the 
new  level.    In  "locking"  down  the  opposite  method  is  followed. 

A  pilot  is  in  charge  of  each  ship  and  controls  the  movements  of 
the  towing  locomotives  by  signals  of  his  arm.  At  the  ends  of  each 
approach  wall  of  the  locks  fifteen-foot  steel  arrows  signal  to  him  when 
the  lock  is  ready  for  him.  Ships  in  their  journey  through  the  locks 
are  for  all  the  world  handled  like  a  railway  train  on  its  "run."  There 
are  the  signals,  the  sidings,  the  stops  and  telephone  and  telegraph  com- 
munication from  one  end  of  the  cajial  to  the  other,  besides  the  towei'ing 
radios. 

A  mammoth  dam  holds  the  waters  of  the  Chagres  River  in  leash 
to  make  the  Gatun  Lake,  and  this  yellow  river — once  second  only  to 
Culebra  Cut  as  the  greatest  engineering  obstacle  on  the  Isthmus — 
now  harnesses  its  floods  to  make  the  Canal  a  success. 

Through  the  Gatim  Lake  the  ship  steams  at  fifteen  knots,  reveling 
in  this  chance  to  show  her  heels,  for  at  all  other  points  no  speed 
higher  than  six  knots  is  allowed.     The  shores  wind  along  low  banks 


2.%  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

heavy  with  jungle  growth  and  flecked  with  strange  water  plants.  Six- 
teen miles  from  the  dam  she  slows  down  to  twelve  knots,  for  the 
1,000-foot  channel  here  narrows  to  800,  and  four  miles  on,  as  it 
api^roaches  the  famous  Culebra  Cut,  speed  is  reduced  to  ten  knots. 
The  banks  are  clean-cut  now  and  the  water  that  curls  up  under  the 
ship's  forefoot  spreads  away  in  widening  ripples. 

Culebra  is  the  Spanish  name  for  snake.  This  crooked  cut  that  the 
French  had  begun  on  the  highest  point  of  the  canal  route,  had  a  repu- 
tation sinister  as  that  of  the  coral  snake,  the  venomous  serpent  of  the 
Isthmus,  until  American  engineers  triumphed  over  its  heart-breaking 
difficulties.  Here  was  the  backbone  that  held  two  continents  together, 
and  outraged  nature  gave  way  to  her  anger  at  the  intrusion  of  giant 
dredges  by  great  slides  that  filled  up  the  work  of  months.  The  waters 
have  buried  all  traces  of  that  great  fight  that  changed  the  name  of 
Culebra  Cut  to  Gaillard  Cut,  in  honor  of  the  Colonel  of  Engineers  who 
finally  cut  the  backbone  of  the  Andes.  The  eight  miles  of  this  giant 
cut  show  high  banks  that  are  still  scarred  and  gashed  with  terraces 
where  noisy  dirt  trains  once  ran.  Here  and  there  a  graceful  palm-tree 
shows  against  the  skyline  and  the  swamps  and  jungles  of  the  Chagres 
country  have  been  left  behind  for  shores  that  fall  rapidly  away  to  the 
blue  Pacific. 

No  longer  is  the  ship  lifted  from  level  to  level,  for  the  lock  at 
Pedro  Mig-uel  drops  her  thirty  feet  and  then  the  pair  at  Miraflores 
lower  her  fifty-five  feet  more.  In  the  background  the  low,  rough  peaks 
of  the  Andes  are  hazy  in  the  tropical  sun  and  the  waters  of  Miraflores 
Lake  gleam  like  burnished  copper.  All  along  the  route  the  effect  of 
this  miiacle  in  the  wilderness  deepens,  with  the  banks  lined  with 
bungalows  and  stoi-ehouses,  with  playgrounds  and  parks,  and  at  night 
arc-lights  show  where  but  a  few  years  before  only  the  faint  loom  of 
candles  in  a  native's  shack  lighted  the  night.  At  Balboa,  the  Pacific 
terminal,  where  the  boom  of  the  Pacific's  long  surges  can  be  heard,  lies 
a  concrete  dry  dock  that  wall  float  the  largest  ship  in  the  world.  Here 
are  great  wharves,  stores  of  coal  and  oil,  and  modern  warehouses 
where  the  jungle  lay. 

This  is  the  story  of  how  American  science  and  skill  and  Yankee 
determination  drove  the  great  ditch  across  swamp  lands  and  through 
rugged  mountains,  winning  out  over  the  obstacles  that  the  jungle,  the 
hills,  the  rivers,  and  the  deadly  climate  had  thrown  in  the  i«^tli  of 
other  nations.  President  Grant  first  declared  for  this  "American 
canal   under   American   control."     It   was   Roosevelt   who   began   the 


AMERICAN  SUBMARINES  LANDED  ON  CRADLES  IN  GATUN  LOCKS 


BATTLESHIPS  IN  UPPER  CHAMBERS  OF  MIRAFLORES  LOCKS 
237 


THROUGH  THE  PANAMA  CANAL 


239 


work,  Taft  who  saw  it  grow  to  completion,  and  President  Wilson  who 
threw  it  open  to  the  world.  The  French  had  wrought  nobly  to  crown 
their  long-  labors  with  success,  and  when  we  took  up  the  unfinished  task 
we  profited  greatly  by  their  experience  and  their  work. 

The  Oldening 
of  the  Canal  was  a 
boon  to  the  Amer- 
ican Navy.  The 
long  run  of  the 
U.S.S.  0  r  ego  n 
around  the  Horn 
to  help  out  the 
Fleet  in  '98  opened 
our  eyes  to  the 
need  of  this  great 
waterway.  By  it 
the  distance  to  be 
logged  from  a  cen- 
tral point  on  one 
coast  to  a  central 
point  on  the  other 
has  been  cut  from 
13,000  miles  to 
5,000.  Before  it 
was  opened  the 
Atlantic  Fleet  and 
the  Pacific  Squad- 
ron were  severed 
by  the  Isthmus  as 
effectively  as 
though  they  were 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  world, 
miles  lies  between  their  oceans. 


THE  FLOATING  CRANE      HERCULES      IN  GATUN  LOCKS 


Now  only  the  slim  gap  of  fort.y-odd 
Our  battle  fleet  can  steam  from  New 
York  to  Seattle,  lie  there  ten  days  al  anchor  and  ten  more  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  pass  under  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  within  three  months  from 
the  start. 

The  problem  of  coaling  on  a  cruise  from  coast  to  coast,  such  as 
the  Fleet  wrestled  with  when  it  circled  the  globe,  is  now  a  simple  one. 
The  fuel  that  lies  at  stations  over  which  our  flag  flies  along  the  whole 
route  can  carry  our  battleships  from  the  Atlantic  to  almost  any  place 
in  the  Pacific  where  they  may  be  needed.    This  alone  is  a  tremendous 


240  THE  ^[ARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

advantage,  for  to  fuel  ships  beyond  our  shores  in  time  of  war  would 
be  a  staggering-  problem. 

The  Panama  Canal  has  wiped  out  distances  with  a  prodigal  hand. 
Not  only  the  Navy  but  our  growing  merchant  marine,  whether  coast- 
wise or  deepsea,  has  benefited.  Water  transportation  from  coast  to 
coast  is  much  cheaper  than  rail,  and  the  time  saved  from  the  old 
sailing  route  is  vital  to  shippers.  It  has  brought  New  York  and  San 
Francisco  closer  by  7,873  nautical  miles,  and  the  sailing  vessels  that 
rounded  the  Horn  between  those  great  ports  have  cut  down  the  average 
time  of  a  return  trip  from  250  days  to  120  days.  From  Colon  to 
Balboa  by  way  of  the  Horn  is  10,500  nautical  miles  while  the  trij)  l)y 
canal  is  less  than  44  miles. 

The  majority  of  ships  that  use  the  Panama  Canal  are  engaged  in 
our  coastwise  trade  and  their  average  saving  in  time  on  each  voyage 
from  coast  to  coast  is  over  a  month  at  sea.  The  Canal  has  brought 
San  Francisco  5,666  miles  nearer  to  Liverpool,  and  the  port  of  New 
York  now  lies  3,717  miles  closer  to  Valparaiso  on  the  west  coast  of 
Chile  by  virtue  of  the  ditch  through  the  jungle  lands  of  Central 
America.  Yokohama,  one  of  the  favorite  ports  of  call  for  all  sailor- 
men  in  the  Far  P]ast,  had  New  York  brought  3,768  miles  nearer  than 
by  the  Suez  route.  These  are  but  a  few  of  the  striking  changes  which 
the  Panama  Canal  has  made  in  the  trade  routes  that  are  strung  like  a 
great  spider's  web  across  the  seas. 


Courtesy  of  ''Fleet  Review^* 


GETTING  THE  RANGE 


XXI 


THE   FLEET   AT   BATTLE   PRACTICE 


WHEN  the  American  Fleet  steams  out  to  sea  for  its  battle  prac- 
tice every  man  on  board,  from  the  youngest  apprentice  seaman 
to  the  Admiral  himself,  wears  his  heart  on  his  sleeve,  and  his 
eyes  are  bright,  for  to  him  it  is  the  greatest  game  in  the  world.  Back 
of  it  lies  a  wealth  of  tradition  that  no  other  game  can  rival.  No  other 
can  approach  it  in  science,  in  the  millions  invested,  or  in  its  thrills. 
The  boundaries  of  its  playing  field  lap  over  a  circular  rim  of  ocean 
that  stretches  to  every  point  of  the  compass,  and  extends  beyond  the 
horizon,  with  the  Admiral's  four-starred  blue  flag  in  the  center. 

It  is  played  with  the  gray  steel  tubes  of  twelve-  and  fourteen-inch 
guns,  which  serve  up  thousand-pound  projectiles  that  leap  from  them 
at  a  speed  of  half  a  mile  a  second,  and  throw  up  cascades  of  white 
water  at  the  target  ten  miles  away.  The  target  is  a  screen  of  timber, 
covered  with  netting  and  strips  of  cloth,  and  is  no  larger  than  the 
advertisements  painted  on  the  fences  of  a  big  league  baseball  grounds. 
The  call  to   "Play  ball!"   is   a  fiendish  battle  gong,   and   when   the 

241 


IJI 


THE  TARGETS  OF  THE  (iUNS 


^^! 


FITTIXG  ON  THE  BULI/S  EYE 
242 


Vopyrtijhl  by  O.   W.   Water. 


THE  navy's  sky  GUN 
243 


244 


THE  :\rARVEL  BOUK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


THE  GUNS  USED  IN  SUB-rALIBER  PR.\CTICE 


A  d  m  i  r  a  1  calls. 
"Time!"  the  blare 
of  bugles  carries 
bis  edict  to  the 
teams. 

It  is  played 
only  at  the  end  of 
patient  months  of 
practice,  and  it  is 
l^acked,  from  start 
to  finish,  with  inci- 
dents that  equal 
the  last  minute  of 
a  football  game  in 
which  an  eleven 
forges  across  the 
goal  for  the  win- 
ning tally. 
Its  reward  is  the  privilege  of  painting  a  throe-foot  white  E,  the 

mark  of  Excellent,  on  the  winning  turrets,  and,  for  the  champion  of 

the  Fleet,  a  strong  loaxl  for  the  battle  efficiency  pennant,  a  red  pennant 

with  a  black  ball  in  its  center,  to  be  flown  at  masthead  for  a  year. 

The  Navy  calls  it  the  "meat  ball,"  for  it  is  like  the  meal  pennant  that 

flies  at  the  yard-arm  of  every  ship  in  commission  three  times  a  day. 

Back  of  these  meager  rewards,  however,  lies  the  grim  satisfaction  that 

the    next    great 

American    naval 

battle  will  be  won 

by    proficiency    in 

the  game. 

W  h  en     the 

Fleet  steams   out 

from    Guantanamo 

Bay  to  its  favorite 

playground,    t  li  c 

rails,      stanchions, 

and    ladders    are 

unshipped  and  tlie 

life  lines  removed. 

The  decks   art; 

bare.     Fragile  ar- 


A  SEVEN-INCH  GUN  CREW 


TTTR  FLRKT  AT  BATTLE  PRACTICE 


245 


tides  are  stowed  away,  and  pictures  and  electric  light  bulbs  laid  on 
bunks  to  save  them  from  the  shattering  effects  of  conciission  from  the 
fire  of  the  guns.  Boats  are  swung  inboard  and  "nested,"  the  smaller 
ones  in  the  larger;  and  if  you  walk  about  the  decks  you  Avill  see  vege- 
table lockers,  boats,  crates,  and  all  manner  of  wooden  gear  tagged 
"overboard" — and  over  they  -would  go  in  battle,  so  that  an  enemy 
shell  would  not  tear  them  into  flying  splinters. 

The  quick  tattoo  of  battle  gongs  clang  noisily,  insistently,  when 
the  teams  line  up  for  the  final  practice,  calling  them  to  "general 
quarters."  From  the  wardroom  the  "spotters"  come  storming  up  the 
ladders.    Glasses  to  watch  the  splash  of  the  shells  are  strapped  over 

their    shoulders,    

a  n  d  chin-straps 
hold  on  their  vi- 
sored  caps.  Some 
are  in  dungarees. 
The  members  of 
the  gun  crews 
drive  past  you  at 
the  double  quick  to 
their  stations : 
bluejackets  inside 
the  turrets,  bands- 
men to  the  sick 
bay,  the  pay  clerk 
to  his  assigned 
post,   bluejackets 

and  marines  to  the  ammunition  passages  and  their  hoists.  There  is 
not  a  man  aboard  who  has  not  his  post;  and  down  in  the  hull  of  the 
ship  are  the  men  of  the  engine  room  force  ready  to  give  her  every 
ounce  of  needed  power. 

Every  man  who  passes  has  a  patch  of  fleecy  cotton  peeping  out  of 
his  ears,  and  as  you  dig  in  your' pocket  for  some  a  bluejacket  halts 
long  enough  to  caution  you  to  pack  it  in  lightly  and  not  to  hold  your 
hands  over  your  ears. 

The  turn  of  your  ship  to  fire  at  its  target  has  not  yet  come,  but  off 
to  port  or  starboard  you  see  a  vivid  sheet  of  flame  leap  out  fi-om  the 
turret  gun  of  another  ship  that  is  on  the  range.  A  cloud  of  smoke  hugs 
the  water  alongside  her  and  a  great  roar  grows  with  each  second.  It 
is  like  the  thunder  of  i-ailroad  engines  racing  at  full  speed  over  a 
bridge.     You  see  her  shell  strike  the  sea  and  throw  up  a  geyser  of 


COMING  ON  THE  RANGE 


'2M] 


THE  MAR \' EL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


CourUsy  a/  "Fleet  Rev. 


A  PERFECT  STRADDLE  SHOT 


white  water.  On 
Ij  e  y  o  11  d  it  other 
and  smaller  gey- 
sers rear  their 
white  c  o  1  u  in  n  s 
w  hen  the  shell 
ricochets,  s  k  i  ni- 
m  i  n  g-  across  the 
sea  in  bounds  as  a 
stone  thrown  by  a 
lad  skims  across  a 
mill-pond. 

A     still    more 

thunderons    roar 

comes  across  the 

water  wdien  a  salvo,  or  broadside,  is  let  loose,  and  each  sliell,  as  it 

strikes,  sends  up  its  whirling  column  of  water. 

So  far  you  are  but  an  idle  participant  in  the  great  game,  watching 
it  at  a  safe  distance.  Your  ship  is  at  last  on  the  range,  and  the  order 
to  fire  has  been  flashed  to  one  of  the  turret  guns.  A  mighty  blast  rocks 
the  mass  of  steel  beneath  your  feet  and  it  slides  to  port  from  the  drive 
of  it.  The  military  masts,  for  all  the  world  like  inverted  waste-baskets, 
appear  to  whip  over  to  one  side  like  a  bent  fishpole,  and  you  grin  and 
try  to  affect  the  calm  of  a  true  sailorman.  If  you  have  been  alert  you 
have  caught  fleeting  impressions  of  vivid  white  sheets  of  flame,  great 
blurs  of  orange- 
colored  vapors,  and 
you  grasp  the  near- 
est support  a  n  d 
strain  your  eyes 
toward  the  target. 
The  "spot- 
ters," with  eyes 
glued  to  their 
glasses,  watch  for 
it  too,  and  pass  be- 
low their  judgment 
of  the  range.  If 
the  range  is  good 

the  first  salvo  will    couHesy  oj  •■r/„  Mar,,..,  ../„„..-,„.- 
tear  the  water  near  a  bit  ok  shell-torn  sea 


THE  FORWARD  TURRET  GUNS  FIRIXG 


Copurighl.  E.  MuHtr.Jr.,  N.  Y. 

FIVE-INCH  GUN  DRILL  SHOWING  DETAILS  OF  POINTING  AND  LOADING 
247 


24S 


THE  FLEET  AT  BATTLE  PRACTICE  249 

the  target  into  boiling  geysers.  A  hit  will  pass  throngli  the  screen 
of  netting  and  cloth  and  will  add  its  bit  to  the  tight  for  the  gunnery- 
honors.  Now  and  then  when  a  two-gun  turret  launches  its  shells  simul 
taneously,  and  the  range  is  perfect,  a  "straddle"  shot  is  the  result,  one 
just  over  and  the  other  just  short  of  the  bobbing  target.  Field  artil- 
lerymen call  it  a  "bracket,"  and  it  is  rarely  that  two  shells  fired  at 
exactly  the  same  range  will  not  show  this  dispersion. 

Other  ships  are  tiring,  loosing  their  eight-,  ten-,  twelve-  or  f  ourteen- 
inch  shells  at  their  targets.  It  is  a  deepsea  spectacle  that  would  have 
driven  Nero  or  Barnum  into  hiding  for  pure  shame.  Wherever  you 
look  toward  the  targets  you  see  flying  jets  of  water  churning  green 
sea  to  white.  The  air  is  filled  with  lightning-like  flashes  and  rolling- 
clouds  of  vari-colored  smoke.  The  dull  boom  of  big  guns  plays 
through  it  all. 

If  you  were  privileged  to  enter  one  of  the  big  turrets  you  would 
carry  away  with  you  a  jumbled  impression  of  its  activities.  A  gun 
crew  stripped  to  the  waist,  with  tlie  light  of  battle  in  their  eyes.  An 
interior  white  as  a  hospital  ward  and  just  as  clean.  A  gun-pointer 
with  his  eye  placed  against  the  rubber  eye-piece  of  his  telescopic  sight 
with  the  cross  wires  centered  on  the  target.  In  recent  practices  our 
ships  have  tired  at  ranges  and  broken  world's  records  that  a  few 
years  ago  were  hardly  dreamed  of. 

The  turrets  are  far  from  the  noisiest  part  of  the  ship,  for  the 
walls  of  armor  deaden  the  deafening  roar  that  greets  you  on  deck. 
It  is  quiet  in  the  interior  of  a  big  turret,  with  its  whirring,  smashing, 
clanking  fury,  its  snakelike  hiss  of  compressed  air  that  blows  unburned 
particles  of  powder  and  powder  bag  lining  out  through  the  muzzle 
before  the  breech  is  swung  open,  but  quiet  only  when  compared  with 
the  racket  on  deck.  And  it  would,  if  you  could  enter  it  tlirough  the 
trapdoor  at  its  bottom,  fasten  the  lure  of  the  game  on  you  so  that  you 
would  never  forget  it.  You  would  wonder  if  there  could  be  another 
spot  where  so  much  energy  is  crammed  into  the  flying  seconds. 

The  fire  control  station,  down  below,  where  the  armor  belt  shelters 
it  from  harm,  Avould  rival  it  if  you  could  visit  its  sacred  precincts. 
Here  comes  Avord  of  the  varying  fortunes  of  the  game,  from  turrets 
and  tops,  from  bridge  and  engine  room.  Out  from  it  goes  the  chang- 
ing range  and  the  orders  that  shake  the  big  fighter  from  stem  to  stern, 
from  truck  to  keel,  with  the  roar  and  thunder  of  salvos. 

The  game  takes  on  an  even  sterner  phase  when  the  umpire,  from 
another  ship,  plays  his  part.  In  actual  warfare  the  ship  might  meet 
with  distressing  casualties  besides  the  loss  of  men  struck  by  shell 


250 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


THE  LAST  SALVO 


fragments.  A  big 
gim  might  be  put 
out  of  action  and 
she  would  have  to 
fight  with  the  re- 
maining ones.  So 
the  umpire  plays 
the  part  of  the  en- 
em  j^'s  shells  and 
the  ship  must  play 
the  game  as  he  or- 
ders it. 

When  the 
game  is  at  its 
height  tons  of  steel 
are  rushing  toward  the  luckless  target  at  the  rate  of  half  a  mile  a  sec- 
ond, and  their  sudden  and  almost  simultaneous  departure  creates  an 
immense  vacuum.  From  the  depths  of  the  lower  decks  and  the  engine- 
rooms  below  them  the  air  rushes  out  to  fill  that  vacuum.  The  sharp 
blast  assaults  your  ears  and  tears  your  cap  otf  your  head  if  you  are  not 
vigilant.  And  when  "Cease  firing!"  shrills  out  on  the  bug-les  you 
welcome  their  music.  It  is  strangely  quiet  now,  but  the  ship  still  bustles 
with  life. 

Bluejackets  and  marines  are  shipping  ladders  and  stanchions, 
rigging  out  boats  and  sweeping  down.  Uppermost  in  their  thoughts 
is  the  picture  of  a  shell-torn  target;  and  news  of  hits,  rumors  of  a 
winning  salvo, 
stories  of  a  tur- 
ret's guns  ob- 
scured by  flying 
spray  at  an  un- 
lucky monient,  are 
told  and  retold. 
The  decks  are 
thick  with  cinders 
and  dotted  w  i  t  li 
white  sticks  that 
look  like  tooth- 
picks. They  are 
the  unburnt  shreds 
of  smokeless  pow- 


WHEN  CEASE  FIRING  SOUNDS 


251 


252  THE  :\IARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

tier  that  the  guns  have  sprayed  from  their  muzzles.  The  "black  gang," 
as  the  crew  calls  the  engine-room  force,  come  up  on  deck  in  little  squads, 
hungry  for  news  and  a  draught  of  fresh  air. 

Fifteen  years  ago  the  greatest  game  of  them  all  was  no  more  like 
the  game  you  have  watched  than  the  first  practice  of  a  college  eleven 
is  like  the  championship  match  that  winds  up  the  football  season. 
Ordnance  itself  made  seven-league  strides  from  the  days  when  the 
red-turbanned  pirate  of  the  Spanish  ^lain  squinted  an  eye  along  the 
barrel  of  his  Long  Tom  at  a  gold-laden  galleon,  but,  except  for  the 
advance  in  gun,  sights,  and  projectiles,  the  gunners  who  swept  two 
Spanish  squadrons  oif  the  seas  in  1898  had  made  but  little  progress. 
Both  had  relied  on  their  native  skill  in  firing  at  the  moment  when  the 
downward  roll  of  the  ship  would  bring  the  gun  to  bear  on  the  target. 

To-day  the  American  gun  pointer,  the  best  in  the  world's  navies, 
lays  the  crossed  wires  of  his  sight  on  the  heart  of  the  target  as  soon 
as  it  can  be  seen,  and  holds  it  there  indifferent  to  the  pitch  or  roll  of 
a  heavy  sea.  Minute  after  minute,  as  the  range  narrows  by  thousands 
of  yards,  he  holds  his  sight  until  the  bugles  end  the  game.  The  drills 
are  known  as  the  "ping  pong"  and  sub-caliber  drills. 

Sub-caliber  work  develops  the  team  work  that  is  necessary  for 
record  scores  in  the  big  game  to  follow.  A  small  caliber  gun,  such  as 
a  one-pounder,  is  mounted  on  a  turret  gun  so  that  its  bore  parallels 
that  of  the  big  one.  A  target  reduced  to  scale  is  anchored  several 
hundred  yards  off  the  ship  and  its  exact  range  is  measured.  Then, 
in  every  detail  that  the  turret  practice  is  carried  out  as  it  would  be 
in  battle,  except  that  the  shot  is  fired  from  the  little  fellow,  the  sub- 
caliber  practice  is  held.  The  men  who  survive  this  last  test  make  the 
turret  their  home  for  the  rest  of  the  cruise  and  work  like  a  railroad 
president  to  cut  down  the  loading  time  and  the  firing  interval  by  the 
fraction  of  a  second. 

They  are  the  kings  of  the  Fleet  and  their  less  fortunate  mates 
treat  them  as  royalty  should  be.  They  are  the  men  who  can  make  the 
heaviest  score  for  the  "meat  ball"  and  they  are  "the  men  behind  the 
gun"  that  we  read  about  when  American  ships  meet  an  invading  fleet 
on  the  high  seas  and  drive  it  back  in  shattered  units  to  its  shores. 


Copi/naltl.  E.  Midler,  Jr..  AM'. 

THE  TRIPLE  TURRET  GUNS  OF  THE  "PENNSYLVANIA' 


XXII 

BIG   GUNS  AND  LITTLE   ONES 

THE  fight  for  victory  between  gun  and  armor  has  gone  merrily 
on,  like  that  between  the  attack  and  defense  of  a  football  eleven, 
ever  since  the  sloping  sides  of  the  first  ironclad  stopped  the 
round  shot  that  had  until  then  gone  crashing  through  stout  walls  of 
oak.  Both  have  had  one  common  ally  in  the  great  strides  that  have 
been  made  in  the  manufacture  of'  steel.  But  other  allies  came  to  the 
help  of  the  gunmaker,  and  to-day  the  gun  has  outstripped  the  armor. 
To-morrow  the  gunmaker  may  stumble  on  a  new  process  of  making 
steel  and  defy  the  smashing  bite  of  the  most  powerful  shell. 

The  armor-maker,  when  his  wrought-iron  plates  proved  of  no 
avail  against  the  pointed  shells  that  came  with  rifled  guns,  was  put  to 
it  to  find  some  way  of  hardening  his  armor.  It  was  not  until  1889 
that  the  Harvey  process  of  introducing  nickel  into  steel  made  this 

253 


254 


THE  AIARVEL  BOOK  OF  A:^IERICAN  SHIPS 


possible.  The  Krupp  process  made  still  another  advance;  and  now 
all  armor  on  a  modern  sea  fighter  is  face-hardened,  super-carbonized 
steel  except  the  tops  of  the  turrets  and  conning  towers. 

Wliile  armor 
made  these  strides 
the  gun  m  ado 
greater  ones.  The 
improvement  i  n 
steel  broiight  gims 
that  could  fire 
m  ore  destructive 
shells,  loaded  with 
exjilosives  that 
Avould  have  shat- 
tered the  old  bar- 
rels, to  ranges 
h  i  t  li  e  r  t  o  un- 
dreamed of.  When 
the  increase  in  the 
size  of  ships  made 
it  itossible  to  give 
her  more  a  r  m  o  r 
protection  it  also 
made  it  possible  to 
carry  more  guns, 
and  heavier  ones. 
The  chemist  came 
to  the  aid  of  tlie 
gnu  in  this  thril- 
ling race,  by  in- 
venting powerful 
explosives  that 
more  than  matched 
the  new  steel 
plates.  Tlie  sight- 
maker  turned  out  telescopic  sights  that  allowed  the  gunners  to  find 
their  target  as  far  away  as  the  limits  of  the  sea's  liorizon.  Other 
inventive  geniuses  made  the  firing  of  tlie  big  monsters  safer,  more 
rapid,  and  more  deadly. 

,  The  modern  gunmaker  looks  upon  his  gun  as  a  high-speed  and 
great-heat-power  engine  of  war.    The  average  life  of  a  big  naval  gun 


MARINES  AT  ANTI-AIRCRAFT  DRILL 


256  THE  ^lAEYEL  BOOK  OF  AMEEICAN  SHIPS 

is  close  to  300  rounds;  so  you  can  see  what  tremendous  shocks,  what 
terrific  wear  and  tear,  the  big  gun  suffers.  You  can  see  also  that  any 
flaw  means  its  ruin,  and  death  and  injury  to  its  crew. 

No  gun  of  a  single  piece  has  ever  been  built  to  stand  up  against 
the  punishment  that  the  modern  big  naval  gam  must  stand.  The  big- 
gun  is  really  made  up  of  separate  parts  united  in  an  interesting  man- 
ner known  as  the  built-up  system.  These  parts  are  the  tube,  jacket, 
and  hoops,  and  all  are  made  of  the  best  plain  or  nickel  steel,  which 
has  been  forged,  while  at  white  heat,  by  giant  hammers  into  their  first 
resemblance  to  a  gun.  The  tube,  the  barrel  of  the  gun,  is  made  in  one 
piece.  Inside  it  is  placed  a  very  thin  lining  of  steel.  When  the  finished 
gini  has  fired  round  after  round,  and  its  "life"  is  worn  out,  the  gun 
is  relined  and  is  as  good  as  new.  The  jacket  fits  over  the  rear  end  of 
the  tube  and  in  its  rear  end  is  the  screw-box,  which  is  to  be  part  of  the 
breech  mechanism.  Over  the  jacket  and  tube  come  the  hoops,  all  of 
different  sizes,  tapering  down  toward  the  muzzle,  which  fit  over  each 
other.    That  is  the  built-up  gun. 

These  separate  parts  are  first  turned  out  as  rough  forgings,  tem- 
pered and  annealed  to  give  them  their  sturdy  qualities,  and  they  are 
then  taken  to  the  machine  shop  to  have  their  outer  surfaces  trimmed 
into  shape.  The  solid  steel  of  each  is  then  bored  out  by  powerful 
machinery.  Powerful  as  it  is,  the  gunmaker  has  no  trouble  in  shaving- 
it  down  to  the  thousandth  part  of  an  inch.  The  parts  are  now  ready 
to  be  assembled,  or  fitted  together,  and  here  comes  the  most  startling- 
part  of  all  the  work  on  the  built-up  gun. 

It  is  built-up  from  the  inside,  beginning  with  the  mammoth  piece 
of  steel  that  we  know  as  the  tube.  This  is  placed  on  end,  muzzle  up, 
in  the  shrinking  pit.  Inside  its  hollow  leng-th  flow  water  and  oil.  The 
jacket,  the  next  largest  piece,  is  then  heated  in  a  hot-air  furnace  to  a 
temperature  of  between  600  and  700  degrees,  and  this  tremendous 
heat  has  expanded  it  so  that,  w^hen  it  is  low^ered  down  over  the  cold 
tube  by  a  giant  crane,  it  rests  easily,  and  not  too  snugly,  over  the  rear 
end  of  the  tube.  The  jacket,  cooling  in  its  bath  of  water  and  oil, 
gradually  shrinks  and  tightens  with  jjowerful  grip  until  it  seems  like 
a  part  of  the  tube  itself.  Before  the  hoops  are  heated  and  shrunk  on 
in  the  same  way,  the  tube  and  its  surrounding  jacket  are  hoisted  out 
of  the  shrinking  pit  and  the  outside  shaped  to  receive  the  hoops. 

"We  now  have  our  built-uii  gun  except  for  the  finish-boring  of  the 
inside  and  the  finish-turning  of  the  outside,  and  other  small  changes. 

In  the  rear  of  the  gun  the  powder  chamber  is  bored  out  to  hold 
the  powder  bags,  and  to  give  the  gases  formed  by  their  ignition  space. 


BOKIXIi  THE  I'llWDEU  (JIIA.MBEIl  OF  A   IJ-I\i  H  (ilN 


RIFLING  A  12-INCH  GUN  AT  THE  BETHLEHEM  STEEL  COMPANY  S  WORKS 

257 


A  C-INCII  (iUN  WITH  SHIELD  BKINC.  ASSKMBLKD  AT  THE   BETIlbEHKM   SIKH'S 


A  r,-INt'II  (UN  WITHOUT  SHIELD  IN  .MACHINE  SHOP 
25S 


BIG  GUNS  AND  LITTLE  ONES 


25!) 


in  which  to  do  their 
work  of  driving- 
out  at  blinding- 
speed  the  great 
projectile.  Then 
the  g-un  is  ready 
for  its  rifling  of 
the  bore.  The  ri- 
fling is  a  series  of 
spirals,  or  twisted 
grooves,  cut  from 
the  forward  end  of 
the  powder  cham- 
ber to  the  tip  of 
the  muzzle.  These 
grooves  give  the 
shell  a  spin  or 
twist  that  makes  it 
fly  steady  along  its 
axis  to  the  target. 
Without  them  the 
shell  would  wol)ble 
and  fall  far  short 
of  its  mark,  and  bo 
at  the  mercy  of  a 
strong  wind.  Near 
the  base  of  each 
shell  is  a  rotating 
band  of  copper. 
When  the  gun  is 
fired  this  soft  met- 
al is  driven  into 
the  grooves  and  in 
their  grip  the  shell 
makes  t  w  o  com- 
plete turns  in  the 
barrel  b  e  f  o  v  e  it 
reaches  t  h  e  muz- 
zle. 

Before  the  gun 
is  readv  for  its  tur- 


THE  SIGHTS  OF  A  EAPID-FIRER 


THE  GUN  POINTER  AND  HIS  PET 


260 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


ret  the  breech  mechanism  must  be  finished.  There  are  several  kinds 
of  breech  blocks  or  plugs  in  use  in  our  Navy,  but  the  one  most  used  is 
called  the  interrupted  screw  system.  Its  block  is  threaded  much  like 
the  ordinary  screw  with  two  or  more  sections  of  the  threaded  block  cut 
out.  Tliese  cut-out  sections  are  known  as  blanks.  The  screw-l)ox,  in 
the  rear  of  the  tube,  has  an  equal  numljcr  of  threads  and  blanks.  A 
turn  of  the  breech  block  lever  forces  the  threads  of  the  block  intn  the 
blanks  of  the  screw-box  and  then  the  block  rotates  so  that  threads  and 
blanks  lock  together.     The  gun  cannot  l)e  fired  until  they  have  locked 

and    the    electrical 
connections  for  the 
firing  are  complet- 
ed, and  tliis  double 
device  is  one  of  the 
must   important  that  gunmakers 
lave  adopted  to  make  the  work 
if  the  gunners  free  from  acci- 
ents. 

When  the  gun  is  fired,  and 
the  recoil  of  the  explosion  drives 
the  mighty  weapon  back  a  full 
three  feet,  the  recoil  is  checked  by 
the  hydraulic  recoil  cylinders  and  tlie  gun  is  brouglit  back  to  its  original 
position  by  the  heavy  spiral  springs  that  tlie  recoil  has  forced  l)ack 
into  tight  coils.  This  recoil  mechanism  is  connected  to  the  gun  by  a 
llea^•y  yoke  which  is  placed  over  the  breech  end  of  the  gun. 

If  the  gnu  is  not  meant  for  one  of  the  turrets,  but  is  a  five-  or 
seven-inch  gun  in  the  broadside  battery,  it  must  be  fitted  with  a  shield. 
This  shield  is  secured  to  the  gun's  carriage,  and  the  gun  sticks  out 
through  a  porthole  in  the  center  of  the  shield. 

In  the  latest  ships  the  heavy  guns,  ranging  from  ten  to  fourteen 
inches  in  caliber,  are  placed  two  or  three  in  a  turret.  Tlie  broadside 
gims  are  from  five  to  seven  inches  in  caliber,  with  the  smaller  size 
coming  more  into  use,  as  they  have  been  found  to  be  the  guns  that  are 
to  be  relied  upon  to  drive  otT  or  sink  the  torpedo  destroyers  in  their 
favorite  night  attacks.  The  other  guns  of  the  secondary  battery  range 
down  from  the  fourteen-pounders  to  the  one-pounders.  These  are 
either  autcmiatic  or  semi-automatic,  and  are  moimted  on  the  rails,  in 
the  fighting  tops,  and  carried  in  the  motor  sailers  and  other  boats  for 
tlveir  protection  and  to  cover  the  landing  of  bluejackets  and  marines. 
The  word  caliber,  which  indicates  the  size  of  guns,  is  used  in  the 


A  12-INCH  GUN  AND  ITS  MOUNT 


BIG  GUXR  AND  LITTLF.  OXER 


L>(;i 


X'avy  to  describe  not  only  the  size  of  the  bore,  but  the  length  of  the 
gam.  For  instance  the  shell  tired  from  a  14-incli  gun  measures  just 
fourteen  inches  across  the  base  of  its  projectile.  If  a  gun  is  referred 
to  as  a  14-inch  45-caliber  gun  it  is  45  times  as  long  as  the  diameter  of 
its  bore,  or  630  inches.  This  gun,  which  is  the  largest  on  any  of  our 
superdreadnoughts  in  actual  commission,  is  fed  with  a  shell  that  weighs 
1,400  i^ounds;  is  driven  from  the  muzzle  by  a  charge  of  365  pounds 


ritoto  liij  N .  Laza 


BATTLESHIP  LOADING  ARMORED  CAR  FOR  EXPEDITIONARY  SERVICE,   EQUIPPED   WITH 

MACHINE  GUNS 

of  smokeless  powder  at  a  rate  of  half  a  mile  per  second;  and  the  gun 
itself  weighs  64  tons.  Seven  sea  miles  away  it  strikes  a  plate  of  armor 
14  inches  thick  with  such  terrific  power  that  it  slices  clear  through  it. 
Fired  at  a  shorter  range,  when  it  is  tested  out  at  the  Indian  Head 
Proving  Grounds  on  the  shores  of  the  Potomac  River,  it  passes 
through  this  plate  at  the  almost  unbelievable  speed  of  less  than  a 
thousandth  part  of  a  second. 

When  the  Pennsylvania  fires  its  battery  of  twelve  14-inch  guns  it 
lets  loose  16,800  pounds  of  metal  at  the  one  blow.  When  the  new 
ships  that  ai'e  to  carry  ten  16-ineh  guns  deliver  that  broadside  from 


262 


BIG  GUNS  AND  IJTTI.E  ()X?:S  263 

tlioir  tiin-ets  21,000  pounds  of  the  2,100-pouiKl  shells  will  toar  through 
the  air  in  a  mighty  mass. 

Besides  all  these  guns,  ranging  from  the  16-inch  to  the  semi- 
automatic one-pounder,  we  now  have  a  new  gun,  the  anti-aircraft  gun, 
which  the  Navy  calls  her  sky  gun.  These  are  for  protection  against 
Zeppelins  and  aeroplanes,  and  are  so  mounted  that  they  can  be  fired 
straight  up  into  the  air.  They  fire  a  three-pound  shell  at  the  aircraft, 
and  are  semi-automatic  in  action. 

All  our  Navy  guns,  whether  made  at  the  Washington  Navy  Yard 
or  by  such  private  iirms  as  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Company,  are  tested 
out  at  the  U.  S.  Naval  Proving  Grounds  at  Indian  Head,  Maryland. 
This  lies  twenty-five  miles  below  "Washington,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Potomac,  and  with  its  extent  of  one  thousand  acres  there  is  also  a 
clear  water  range  of  six  and  one-half  miles. 

Besides  testing  the  shells  against  heavy  armor  plate,  backed  up 
by  timbers  and  sand,  the  velocity  of  the  shell  is  found  by  a  clever 
device.  Two  screens  of  electrically  connected  wires  are  placed  in  front 
of  the  muzzle.  As  the  shell  tears  first  through  one,  and  then  the  other, 
the  time  of  passage  from  one  screen  to  the  other  is  registered  by  a 
delicate  instrument. 

The  powder  used  in  these  tests  and  in  battle  is  smokeless  powder. 
The  old  black  powder  is  used  only  for  salutes  and  for  the  bursting 
charges  of  the  shells.  Smokeless  powder  ranges  in  color  from  light 
lemon  to  dark  brown,  and  is  perforated,  for  all  the  world  like  macaroni. 
It  is  perfectly  safe  to  light  it  in  the  open  air,  but  when  it  is  ignited  in 
a  closed  place,  like  the  interior  of  a  gun,  it  develops  powerful  gases 
that  drive  out  the  shell  at  a  rate  as  great  as  3,000  feet  the  tirst  second 
of  the  flight. 

The  Navy  has  a  handy  way  of  marking  its  shells  so  that  one  can 
tell  at  a  glance  what  they  are  used  for.  The  armor-piercing  shell  is 
painted  black,  with  a  yellow  nose  to  show  that  it  is  loaded  with  high 
explosive.  The  common  shell,  which  is  not  used  against  heavy-armored 
ships,  but  against  objects  on  shore,  is  painted  lead-color.  The  shrapnel, 
used  against  bodies  of  troops  or  trenches,  is  painted  white ;  and  the 
blind  shell,  which  is  used  in  target  practice,  and  which  has  sand  in  place 
of  the  bursting  charge,  is  painted  red. 

The  weight  of  modern  naval  shells  ranges  from  33  pounds  for  the 
4-inch  to  1,400  pounds  for  the  14-inch.  The  blunt  nose  or  cap  shown 
in  the  photograph  grouped  with  the  old  cannon  balls,  or  round  shell, 
is  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  the  penetration  of  the  projectile  when 
it  strikes  armor  by  protecting  the  sharp  point  of  the  shell  which  it 


2CA 


TKIK  ^FARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


OLD  ROUND  SHOT  AND   OLD   FORM  OF  STEEL  CAPPED   t>llELLl 
RANCiING  FROM  4-  TO   13-INCH 


ARMOR  PIERCING  SHELLS  FROM  S'TD  12-INCH  WITH  MOD- 
ERN LONG  POINTED  SOFT  CAPS  GIVING  GREATER  RANGE 
AND   PENETRATION 


Courtesy  of  "Our  A''fli'?/" 

THE  BEST  ARGUMENTS  FOR  PEACE 


covers.  In  passing 
through  armor  this 
nose  is  stripped  off 
bnt  it  has  then 
il(ine  its  work. 

Of  the  three 
shells,  or  projec- 
tiles, nsed  by  our 
Navy,  the  armor 
piercing  and  com- 
mon sliell  are  of 
forged  and  tem- 
]H'red  steel.  Their 
chief  difference  is 
in  the  size  of  the 
inside  cavity  which 
holds  the  bursting 
charge  of  explo- 
sive. The  armor 
piercers  hold  from 
2  to  ?>  per  cent,  of 
h  i  g  Ji  explosive, 
which  bursts  the 
s  h  t'  11  into  frag- 
ments after  it  has 
]iassed  through  ar- 
mor and  into  the 
hull  of  a  ship.  The 
I'ragments  which 
are  first  burst  by 
1  h  e  resistance  of 
the  a  r  m  o  r  a  r  e 
broken  into  still 
smaller  pieces  by 
t  h  e  b  u  r  s  t  i  n  g 
charge,  and  the  fly- 
ing bits  of  steel  kill 
men  and  w  reck 
guns,  as  they  have 
a  vei'v  high  veloc- 
ity. 


BIG  GUNS  AND  LITTLE  ONES  265 

At  Indian  Head  shells  arc  sometimes  fired  with  the  cavity  loaded 
with  sand.  One  of  onr  photogi'aphs  shows  the  sand-loaded  shell  after 
the  armor  has  stripped  off  its  cap. 

The  latest  type  of  armor-piercing  shells  from  5-  to  12-inch  caliber 
have  a  long  pointed  cap  that  gives  them  more  accurate  flight  and 
much  greater  range  than  was  possible  when  the  blunt  cap  was  used. 
As  the  photograph  of  these  latest  shells  shows,  they  are  much  like  a 
modern  rifle  cartridge  in  shape. 


Courtesy  of  "Flyuig" 

THE  FIRST  HUMAN  FLIGHT.      ORVILLE  WRIGHT,  DEC.  17,  1903 


XXIII 


FIGHTING  SHIPS   THAT  FLY 


WHEN  the  great  coiiHict  in  Europe  began  in  1914  the  part  that 
jiaval  aircraft  would  play  in  war  was  little  appreciated.  That 
the  control  of  the  air  might  be  necessary  before  the  great 
object  of  all  naval  battles,  the  command  of  the  sea,  could  be  assured, 
was  then  admitted  by  few  naval  experts.  The  first  months  of  the  war 
found  the  navies  of  Europe  equipped  with  but  a  handful  of  the  fighting 
shii^s  that  fly.  Now  the  general  term  of  seaplanes  covers  all  flying 
craft  that  can  operate  both  on  the  water  and  above  it,  whether  they 
have  for  their  sea  body  a  single  boat-sha]ied  hull  or  two  pontoons. 
Their  seaplanes  were  practiced  in  scouting  and  observing,  but  not  in 
range-finding  for  the  gi;ns  of  the  fleets  or  in  dropping  bombs. 

The  war  brought  out  these  and  still  other  uses  for  the  seaplanes 
and  gave  to  the  navies  of  the  world  a  new  fighting  arm.  We  will  not 
wait  long  to  see  in  our  own  country's  Navy  our  present  squadron  of 
seaplanes  become  a  great  air  fleet  that  will  require  a  corps  of  pilots 
and  observers  to  man. 

A  leading  aeronautic  expert.  Mi-,  llcniy  Woodhouse,  has  drawn 
for  us  a  stirring  jiieture  of  the  work  tliat  such  an  air  fleet  could  do  in 
wai'. 

26t> 


FIGHTING  SHIPS  THAT  FLY  267 

"A  dirigible  lialting  a  sliii)  at  sea:  a  squadron  of  aeroijlanes 
attacking  a  cruiser  witli  bombs;  a  fleet  of  seaplanes  starting  from 
hangar-ships  at  sea  to  attack  military  bases;  a  seaplane  launching 
torpedoes — these  are  events  of  tremendous  imi)ort.  They  mark  a  new 
stage  in  the  development  of  naval  aeronautics  and  show  clearly  the 
advent  of  a  new  epoch,  a  period  when  the  ships  of  the  sea  must  face  a 
new  and  j^otential  adversary ;  when  transports  equipped  with  torpedo 
launching  seaplanes  will  be  a  match  to  armored  warships,  and  naval 
battles  will  be  preceded  by  aerial  battles,  and  the  side  winning  in  the 
air  will  have  preponderous  advantage  over  the  other." 

Although  the  United  States  was  behind  the  great  nations  of 
Europe  in  the  number  and  skill  of  its  birdmen  when  the  European 
War  began,  that  war  was  but  two  years  old  before  the  American 
Government  took  steps  to  put  our  country  on  a  par  with  them.  They 
were  Americans,  after  all,  who  gave  the  world  the  aeroplane  and  the 
first  practical  hydroaeroplane,  or  flying  boat. 

Wilbur  and  Orville  Wright  began  their  experiments  with  the 
aeroplane  fourteen  years  before  the  Great  War  awakened  Americans 
to  the  wonderful  part  that  aircraft  were  to  play  in  warfare.  Their 
first  flight  lasted  but  twelve  seconds  over  the  barren  sand  dunes  at 
Kitty  Hawk,  North  Carolina.  It  was  another  American,  Glenn  H. 
Curtiss,  who  made  the  first  successful  flight  in  a  flying  boat.  He  was 
then  working  on  aeroplanes  for  the  Navy  and  experimented  with  a 
biplane  equipped  with  floats.  Giving  this  up  for  one  with  a  true  boat 
bodj',  straightway  came  success.  That  was  in  1911,  and  the  first  great 
stride  toward  giving  the  American  Navy  its  fleet  of  fighting  boats  that 
fly  followed  five  years  after  when  Congress  set  aside  $3,500,000  for 
naval  aircraft  alone. 

These  are  the  aircraft  in  which  we  are  interested,  for  they  are  as 
much  at  home  in  the  water  as  in  the  air.  They  can  fly  by  compass 
far  out  of  sight  of  land,  and  their  skippers  and  pilots  are  trained 
solely  to  fight  for  and  with  the  Fleet. 

There  is  a  great  dift'erence  in  flying  over  land  and  in  flights  over 
water.  For  that  reason  the  Navy  has  its  own  Aeronautic  Station. 
In  water  flying  the  aviator  has,  under  favorable  conditions,  a  level 
surface  on  which  to  alight,  while  the  land  flyer  has  often  to  land  on  a 
spot  thick  with  obstacles.  The  air  conditions,  too,  are  generally 
better  at  sea.  These  advantages,  however,  are  partly  wiped  out  by 
the  fact  that  the  water  machine  is  harder  to  handle  in  the  air,  because 
of  the  large  and  heavy  float  it  must  carry. 

Navy  aviators,  all  keen  and  alert  young  officei's,  will  tell  you  that 


268 


FIGHTING  SHU'S  THAT  FLY 


269 


when  road}'  for  their  first  flight  tiiey  always  remembered  at  some  time 
having  looked  down  from  a  great  height.  The  memory  was  not  a 
pleasant  one  and  they  expected  to  repeat  it  on  that  first  fliglit.  With- 
out exception  they  found  that  this  dreaded  sensation  was  entirely 
lacking  even  when  they  looked  straight  down.  They  will  also  tell  you 
that  the  "air  holes"  we  read  about  are  fiction.  The  pressure  of  the 
atmosphere  is  so  great  that  it  takes  a  cyclone  to  make  even  a  tiny  hole 
in  the  air. 

It  may  seem  curious  to  think  of  our  Navy  flyers  as  authorities  on 
such  phases  of  flying,  but  the  world's  record  for  height  in  flying  is  a 
United  States  Navy  record.  Lieutenant  Kichard  C.  Saufley,  U.  S.  N., 
who  lost  his  life  in  an  accident  in  1916,  first  made  the  record  on 
December  3,  1915,  when  he  soared  up  to  a  height  of  12,136  feet  in  a 
hydroaeroplane.  He  smashed  this  world  record  again  on  March  29, 
1916,  when  he  piloted  his  machine  in  a  climb  of  three  hours  to  a  height 
of  16,700  feet,  or  two  and  one-tliird  miles.  The  first  American  bird- 
men  who  operated  any  type  of  aircraft  under  war  conditions  were  two 
American  naval  officers.  That  was  four  months  before  the  European 
War  broke  out. 

While  the  bluejackets  and  marines  under  Admiral  Fletcher  were 
holding  the  Mexican  port  of  Vera  Cruz  in  April,  1914,  the  battleship 
Mississippi  steamed  into  Vera  Cruz  with  a  regiment  of  marines  and 
two  hydroaeroplanes  from  the  naval  aeronautic  station  at  Pensacola, 
Florida.  The  machines  were  hastily  assembled  and  launched,  and 
their   officer   pilots,   armed   with  bombs,    scouted   over   the   territory 


.\  llVDIiOAKUnl'LANE  KKTUKMNXi  FKOM  .\  FLIGHT 


270 


TIIK  .MAia'EL  BOOK  OF  AMKKICAX  SHIPS 


NINE  FLYING    BOATS   AND   HYDROAEROPLANES   OF   THE    CURTISS,    WRIGHT,    AND   BUR- 
GESS TYPES  AT  THE  U.  S.  NAVY's  STATION,  PENSACOLA,  FLORIDA 

occupied  b}^  Mexican  troops  ten  miles  to  the  west,  lifteen  to  tlie  north, 
and  twelve  miles  to  the  south  of  the  city,  bringing  back  valuable 
information. 

The  flying  school  of  the  Navy  is  at  Pensacola,  Florida.  Here  is  a 
land-locked  bay  five  miles  wide  and  fifteen  long,  with  its  practice  for 
flying  over  smooth  water.  Only  a  narrow  strip  of  land  separates  it 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  it  takes  but  a  few  minutes  of  flying  to 
find  the  open  sea.  Straight  out  into  the  Gulf  the  seaplanes  wing, 
without  a  landmark,  buoy,  or  lighthouse  to  guide  them,  nothing  but 
tlie  compass.  The  station  has  its  concrete  and  its  floating  hangars  to 
house  the  fleet  of  seaplanes,  its  dirigilile,  the  captive  kite  oliservation 
balloon  and  the  free  balloon. 

The  kite  balloons  can  be  sent  up  1,500  feet  above  the  deck  of  a 
battleship,  at  the  end  of  a  cable  which  is  reeled  on  deck.     The  ])asket 


271 


272 


FIGHTING  SHIPS  THAT  FLY 


273 


Courtesy  of  "Flying'' 

A  BURGESS-DUNNE  WARPLANE  WITH  A  BENET-MERCIER  GUN  MOUNTED  ON  IT 

The  special  mounting  for  liolding  the  gun  and  the  open  front  and  sides  afforded  by  the  shape  of  the  Dunne  wings  give 
a  range  of  240  degrees  fur  the  gun 

hung  fi'om  each  balloon  carries  two  officers.  From  their  lofty  perch 
you  can  imagine  how  much  farther  they  can  see  than  the  spotters  on 
the  platforms  of  the  military  masts  who  can  see  ten  miles  to  sea. 
Over  a  telephone  wire  the  men  in  the  basket  send  their  news  back  to 
the  battleship  below.  The  kites  are  81  feet  overall,  22  feet  high  and 
broad,  and  Aveigh  each  1,081  pounds.  CHirious  flaps  or  air  pockets  at 
the  side  are  kept  open  by  guy  lines.  These  pockets  and  the  tail  cups 
that  look  so  much  like  the  tail  of  a  boy's  kite,  are  to  steady  the  kite 
and  the  basket  beneath.  It  is  not  a  rare  thing,  however,  for  the  kite 
to  drop  a  hundred  feet  Avithout  warning,  and  officers  for  whom  gales 
have  no  terrors  at  sea  fall  easy  victims  to  seasickness  when  flying 
above  the  sea  in  the  unruly  kite  balloons. 

The  Pensacola  Station  is  as  busy  as  a  beehive.  Scouts  speed 
away  and  glide  back.  New  officers  take  their  first  "joy  ride." 
Motors  and  machines  are  tested  in  the  shops.  In  other  buildings 
experts  on  all  aeronautic  subjects  deliver  lectures. 


274  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

When  a  new  officer  reports  for  duty  an  instructor  first  takes  him 
up,  to  show  him  how  it  feels  to  fly.  Then  come  studies  and  flights; 
work  in  the  shop  to  learn  the  construction  and  repair  of  machine  and 
motors;  and  experiments  with  the  dirigible  and  balloons.  Soon  he  is 
allowed  to  handle  a  machine  himself  with  the  instructor  at  his  side, 
and  finally  he  flies  alone.  A  medical  officer  examines  him  once  a  week 
to  see  that  his  nerves  are  equal  to  the  strain  of  flying.  Any  failure 
either  in  the  work  or  in  the  medical  examinations  is  the  end  of  the 
course.    The  flying  work  of  the  Navy  goes  only  to  picked  men. 

As  the  course  goes  on  it  becomes  more  exciting.  The  student 
learns  to  make  spirals,  to  climb  to  higher  altitudes,  to  fly  in  rough 
weather,  to  lay  his  course  by  compass  out  at  sea,  and  he  is  tried  out 
for  endurance  by  long  flights  in  the  air.  When  he  passes  these  tests 
he  must  be  launched  from  a  catapult  while  a  ship  is  underway.  He 
lands  in  deep  sea  waves  and  is  hoisted  aboard  ship  in  his  machine. 
He  sends  and  receives  radio  messages  while  aloft ;  and  then  comes  the 
test  for  a  Naval  Aviator's  certificate.  In  this  trial  the  work  is  much 
the  same  but  under  more  difficult  conditions.  For  instance,  he  must 
climb  10,000  feet  and  land  between  certain  marks  with  his  motor  cut 
off  while  1,000  feet  up  in  the  air.  He  must  find  a  vessel  100  miles  out 
at  sea  by  compass  bearings.  He  must  fly  in  very  bad  weather  and 
must  personally  prepare  his  machine  for  launching  from  a  cruiser's 
deck  up  to  the  pulling  of  the  trigger  of  the  catapult.  One  more  test 
comes  which  is  mainly  in  air  navigation.  When  he  passes  this  he  is  a 
Navy  Air  Pilot  and  can  fly  when  he  pleases  and  do  as  he  pleases  in 
the  air. 

All  our  liattle  cruisers  and  scouts  are  equipped  with  a  catapult 
for  launching  seaplanes  into  the  air  from  the  ship's  deck.  The 
machine  is  secured  to  a  car  propelled  along  a  track  at  a  final  speed  of 
50  miles  an  hour.  At  the  start  the  machine's  motor  is  also  started. 
At  the  end  of  the  track  the  car  is  halted  and  the  machine  released  for 
its  flight  in  the  air,  like  some  great  sea  bird,  her  crew  ready  for 
fighting  or  scouting  as  the  case  may  be.  Without  the  catapult's  help 
it  would  be  impossible  for  the  seaplane  to  "get  off"  in  rough  open 
sea  water  without  being  wrecked.  The  Navy  flyers  have  found  it  a 
simple  matter  to  land  on  the  open  sea  and  then  be  hoisted  aboard. 
To  start  the  flight  out  at  sea  was  a  puzzle  until  an  American  naval 
officer  invented  the  catapult.  The  machine  flies  alongside,  rests  on 
the  water  like  a  great  sea  fowl,  and  is  hoisted  aboard.  Along  steams 
the  cruiser  until  it  is  time  to  send  up  the  flyer. 

With   all   the  building  of  anli-aii'craft   or   "sky"   guns  to   bring 


FIGHTING  SHIPS  THAT  FLY 


275 


down  the  lords  of  the  air,  the  most  effective  way  is  still  to  figlit  them 
from  the  air.  The  first  machine-gun  used  with  success  in  the  European 
War  in  an  aeroplane  was  the  Lewis  gun,  the  invention  of  an  American 
army  ofticer.  So  our  Navy  flyers  carry  light  machine-gunh  that  can 
reel  off  their  strings  of  flying  bullets  to  bring  down  the  enemy  planes, 
and  the  crews  carry  automatic  pistols  for  fighting  at  close  range. 
Besides  this  they  are  equipped  with  bombs  and  gear  with  which  to 
drop  them  on  their  target.  The  dropping  of  explosives  and  bombs 
from  the  height  of  a  mile  has  been  practiced  with  good  results.  In 
time  of  war  our  seaplanes  would  be  used  to  drop  them  on  fleets,  sub- 
marine bases,  navj^  yards,  and  the  hangars  of  enemy  aerial  fleets. 
You  can  imagine  what  havoc  one  dropped  into  a  funnel  or  hatchway 
of  a  man-o'-war  would  work.  Steel  arrows  dropped  from  a  height  in 
clusters  have  shown  almost  as  much  offensive  power  as  the  bullets  of 
a  machine-gun. 

Scouting  over  the  open  sea  is  now  done  by  our  naval  birdnien 
even  in  foggy  weather,  and  far  out  of  sight  of  land.  To  hide  them 
from  enemy  scouts  their  wings  are  usually  painted  in  striped  colors 
that  blend  with  the  sea  and  sky  when  at  a  distance.  When  they  are 
well  up  in  their  machines  they  can  see  objects  some  distance  beneath 


U.NE  UF  TUP.  L.VUl.L  600  II. P.  IIALIAN  CAPRONI  TRIPLANES  WHICH  HAVE  BEEN   USED 
EXTENSIVELY  TO  BOMB  THE  AUSTRIAN  BASES 


,,(.-/  „f  "Flying" 

A    SUBMARINE    TWENTY    FEET    UNDER   WATER    WITH    SHADOW    OF   THE    AEROPLANE 

ACROSS  IT 


270 


Cinirlesii  of  '  Fining" 


A    GOODYEAR    DIRIGIBLE    MAKING    READY    FOR   A    CRUISE 


Courtesy  of  "Flying" 


THE  GOODRICH,  NON-RIGID  TYPE  DIRIGIBLE   BUILT   FOR   THE   AMERICAN    NAVY    (PASSED  BY 

THE    censor) 

277 


!7S 


TIIK  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMKRICAX  SHIPS 


the  surface  of  the  water,  just  as  the  fash-hawk  locates  his  prey.  Sub- 
marines fifty  feet  under  water  are  easily  picked  up  and  followed  by 
the  fast  23lanes.  Mine  fields  have  no  refuge  from  the  keen-eyed  pilots 
of  the  air. 

They  are  the  "eyes  of  the  Fleet"  and  if  we  had  had  but  one  at 
the  time  of  the  Spanish  "War  the  Fleet  would  have  long  before  located 
Oervera's  squadron  in  Santiago  harbor.  It  might  have  located  the 
Spanish  ships  before  they  reached  that  haven  and  ended  the  war  then 
and  there.  So  we  can  see  how  our  new  aerial  fleet  will  sweep  away 
"the  fog  of  war"  in  future  battles.  It  was  Wellington  who  com- 
plained that  he  could  only  guess  what  was  going  on  "on  the  olhei- 
side  of  the  hill, ' '  for  in  those  days  scouting  Avas  limited  to  cavalry. 

One  of  the  greatest  services  that  our  air  fleet  will  give  in  battle 
will  be  to  fly  well  ahead  of  the  Fleet  to  watch  the  fall  of  her  shells. 

Either  by  wireless  or  by 
dropping  smoke  bombs 
that  tell  the  story  they 
will  flash  back  to  the 
g-uns  the  correct  range. 
When  the  battle  and 
scout  cruisers  speed  out 
far  ahead  of  the  battle 
line  the  dirigibles  and 
seaplanes  will  go  with 
them.  Then  may  come 
a  great  fight  between 
the  enemy  air  fleets,  or 
it  may  be  the  role  of  the 
birdmen  to  fly  back  with 
news  of  the  enemy  for 
the  .Admiral. 

While  t  h  e  modci'n 
Zeppelin,  with  the 
length  of  the  super- 
dreadnought  of  to-day, 
is  in  the  true  sense  not 
a  fighting  ship,  for  it  is 
helpless  in  the  water,  no 
^    .  ,  naval  air  fleet  will  be 

Courtesy  <'J     '/  w  '"/ 

A  ZEPPKLIN  ATTACK  ON  LONDON  DEPICTED  BY  A  GERMAN     C"mp'f  te    WlthOUt    tlieiU. 

ARTIST  Compared  with  the 


FIGHTING  SHIPS  THAT  FLY  279 

lieavler-tlian-air  flyers  they  have  their  advantages  and  their  draw- 
backs. They  can  travel  farther  from  their  base.  They  can  carry  a  far 
greater  cargo  of  explosives.  From  their  steadier  flight  they  can  drop 
them  with  greater  accuracy,  and  observation  liom  them  is  better  for 
this  reason. 

The  seaplane  is  faster  and  harder  to  bring  down.  Flying  at  200 
feet  a  second,  it  is  a  smaller  target.  It  is  harder  to  put  out  of  action 
too,  for  a  hit  on  a  Zeppelin  is  almost  sure  to  cause  the  explosion  of 
the  great  gas  bag.  It  is  easier  handled  at  its  base,  for  the  dirigible 
needs  a  great  building  for  its  shelter.  The  seaplane's  jiilot  can  fire 
his  machine-gun  in  any  direction,  while  the  Zeppelin's  gimners  cannot 
fire  above  its  huge  bulk  at  an  enemy  seaplane  overhead. 

The  Zeppelin  is  liaTd  to  maneuver  in  high  winds.  While  it 
can  fly  fifty  miles  an  hour,  it  cannot  rise  to  little  more  than  half  the 
height  of  an  aeroplane  because  of  the  gas  pressure  in  its  silken  envel- 
ope. 

The  first  Victoria  Cross  won  in  the  air  was  awarded  to  Flight 
Sub-Lieutenant  Warneford  of  the  Eoyal  Naval  Air  Service  when  he 
destroyed  a  Zeppelin  single-handed  from  his  seaplane. 

Unless  it  would  flirt  with  almost  sure  destruction  from  a  cloud  of 
seaplanes  the  Zeppelin  must  do  its  raiding  at  night.  Then  the  ghost- 
like craft,  double-ended  like  a  lead-pencil  and  600  feet  in  length,  does 
its  most  deadly  work.  The  sweeping  fingers  of  searchlights  catch  it 
in  their  web  of  light  but  the  shells  bursting  near  rarely  find  their 
mark  at  night. 

Perhaps  the  best  protection  against  these  terrors  of  the  sky, 
which  "know  no  frontiers,"  is  the  Aerial  Coast  Patrol  that  both  naval 
and  military  experts  have  worked  for.  The  first  American  unit,  oper- 
ating with  the  Mosquito  Fleet  of  destroyers  and  motorboats  off  the 
Atlantic  Coast  in  1916,  located  the  ships  of  the  attacking  fleet  as  well 
as  submerged  mines.  With  two  to  three  times  the  speed  of  destroyers 
they  proved  a  great  factor  in  locating  and  following  submarines  even 
when  submei'ged. 

With  a  picket  line  of  seaplanes  along  our  coasts,  operating  fifty 
to  one  hundred  miles  offshore  like  so  many  winged  sentinels,  ships 
fifty  miles  distant  could  be  seen.  Back  to  the  nearest  shore  radio 
would  go  news  of  the  enemy's  approach,  throwing  into  action  the  Fleet, 
the  Destroyer  and  the  Submarine  Forces,  and  calling  to  the  threatened 
section  the  coast  defense  troops. 

As  fast  as  new  machines  are  turned  out  there  are  new  volunteers 
from  officers  and  enlisted  men  of  both  the  Na\^  and  the  Marines  to 


•280  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OE  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

take  the  course  at  the  Navy's  flying  school  in  Florida.  Flying  never 
loses  its  interest  and  thrill.  To  fly  for  the  Fleet  adds  to  its  charm, 
for  it  then  has  a  purpose.  Behind  the  fascination  of  it  lies  the  lure 
of  a  new  and  powerful  weapon  of  warfare  that  will  fight  its  future 
battles  thousands  of  foet  above  deepsea  water. 


THE  KOOKlKiS  LKAli.\    lu  bLI.NG  A  HAMMOCK  AND  VULL  A  cL  lliai  ON  SHOKE 


XXIV 


THE   SOLDIERS   OF   THE   SEA 


THE  marines  were  the  first  of  our  regular  services  to  don  the 
American  uniform,  for  before  the  Continental  Congress  formed 
the  Army  or  the  Navy  it  nuistered  in  "two  battalions  of  Ameri- 
can Marines"  on  the  tenth  of  November,  1775,  as  the  first  step  to  arm 
for  the  coming  war  with  Great  Britain. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Reiniblic  the  marines  were  soldiers  pure 
and  simple,  stationed  on  board  our  frigates  and  sloops-of-war  as  sharp- 
shooters to  pick  off  gun's  crews  on  hostile  ships  when  the  "men  of 
iron"  fought  their  "wooden  ships"  at  a  i^istol's  length;  and  to  quell 
the  mutinies  that  broke  out  among  the  hard-bitten,  undisciplined 
sailormen  who  had  not  learned  th'e  discipline  of  a  man-o'-war.  It  is 
easy  to  see  that  little  love  was  lost  then  between  sailors  and  marines, 
for  the  latter  did  little  of  the  ship's  work  and,  in  the  expressive  term 
of  the  sea,  were  known  as  "idlers,"  or  "politicians." 

The  American  marine  of  to-day,  however,  despite  his  soldierlike 
uniform,  is  no  "idler"  on  board  ship.  He  mans  the  same  boat,  falls 
with  his  bluejacket  shipmate,  drills  at  the  same  batteries,  and  works 
at  the  guns  in  the  frenzied  endeavor  of  his  ship  to  win  the  battle 

2S1 


Copi/rigU,  J.  B.  Gelmer 


A  S-INCH  GUN  CREW  ON  THE  "  NEW  YORK  " 


ADVANCE  BASE  PRACTICE  IN  MOUNTING  G-INCH  GUN 
283 


284 


Tin-:  .MAR^'EL  BOOK  OF  AMP^RICAX  SHIPS 


READY    TO    DEFEND    A    NAVAL    BASE    IN    THE    WEST    INDIES 


efficiency  pennant 
tluit  flies  over  the 
crack  gnnnery  sliip 
of  the  Fleet'.  He 
coals  ship  to  the 
same  music ;  double 
banks  the  thwarts 
with  his  shipmate 
in  the  liberty 
boats;  shoots  side 
by  side  on  the 
ship's  rifle  team; 
and  works  with  the 
brawn  of  his  ship- 
hardened      nuiscle 

for  the  winning  touchdown.     And  when  the  ship's  battalion  lands  in 

some  tropical  country  to  raise  the  Stars  and  Stripes  on  an  alien  flag- 
staff, the  bluejacket,  who  has  taught  the  marine  how  to  make  a  bowline, 

or  sling-  his  hammock,  follows  without  a  moment's  hesitation  the  advice 

of  the  sea  soldier  on  scouting  or  street  fighting. 

The  Spanish-American  War  ended  the  old  days  when  the  marine 

was  content  to  act  as  an  infantryman  whose  main  duties  on  board  ship 

were  orderly  and  sentry  duties.     Now  he  must  handle  a  twelve-foot 

ash  oar  in  a  seaway  and  do  his  trick  at  the  In-ails  in  a  sailing  cutter. 

He  must  know  how 

to    rig    shear    legs 

a  n  d   transport   a 

seven-inch  n  aval 

gun  ashore  and 

then  move  it  to  the 

top   of   a   hill    and 

there    mount    it 

where  it  commands 

the  entrance  to  the 

port    w  h  i  c  h    the 

Fleet  must  use  as 

a  base.     He  must 

take    his    trick    at 

coaling  ship   a  n  d 

getting       ainmuni- 

tiitn  and  stores  on  the  mauinks  man  the  tokpedo  dekknse  ta.\s 


-^ 


PI.DIKUS    (IF    'IIII.:    SKA" 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  SEA 


2S5 


A    BATTLESHIP  S   DETACHMENT   READY   FOR  LANDING 


board.  He  has  his 
own  part  of  the 
berth  deck  and  his 
own  battery  of 
five-inch  gnns  and 
must  be  ready  at 
any  hour  of  night 
to  turn  out  and 
man  them  w  h  e  n 
the  bugle  shrills 
its  call  and  the 
battle  gongs  warn 
of  a  night  attack 
by  destroyers.     At 

sea  he  drills  on  decks  that  slant  as  the  ship  steams  through  long  swells 
and  lands  the  next  day  for  a  battalion  review  at  a  navy-yard.  He  keeps 
house  with  a  sea-bag,  ditty-box,  and  locker,  and  learns  the  mechanism 
of  every  piece  aboard  ship,  from  the  quick-firing  five-inchers  to  the 
delicate  machine-guns  that  fire  the  service  rifle's  cartridge.  The  sig- 
nals are  an  open  book  to  him,  and  the  marine  has  acquired  the  sea  habit 
that  makes  him,  as  Kiiiling  puts  it,  "soldier  and  sailor  too." 

The  destiny  of  the  IMarine  Corps  has,  from  the  birth  of  the 
Republic,  been  woven  deeply  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  Stars  and 
Stripes.  They  have  fought  in  every  sea  fight  in  Avhich  the  American 
colors  have  flown,  and  their  song,  "From  the  Plalls  of  Montezuma  to 
the  Plains  of  Tripoli,"  is  not  an  idle  boast.    Under  Lieutenant  Prestley 

N.  O'Bannon  they 
marched  seven 
li  u  n  d  r  e  d  miles 
through  the  North 
African  desert  in 
1805  to  haul  down 
the  flag  of  the  Bey 
of  Tripoli  on  the 
fortress  of  Derne, 
and  run  up  the 
(irst  American  flag 
to  fly  over  a  cap- 
tured fortress  of 
the  Old  World.  The 
A  CUTTER  DRILL  IN  THE  NORTH  RIVER  Florida    Indian 


A  REGIMENT  ON  A  TROPICAL  DRILLGROUND 


ADVANCE  BASE  WORK  IN  THE  TROPICS 
2S6 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  SEA  287 

wars  called  them  next,  and  they  rushed  Malay  stockades  seventy-five 
years  before  the  Philippines  came  under  our  rule.  The  Fiji  Islanders 
and  the  pirates  of  Korea  were  chastised  by  them  six  different  times. 
With  the  Army  they  marched  to  Chapultepec  in  1846:  Robert  E.  Lee 
led  them  in  the  capture  of  John  Brown  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  through 
the  long  Civil  War  they  fought  under  Farragut  and  Porter. 

When  the  Spanish  War  broke  out  the  marines  were  the  first  troops 
to  land  at  Guantanamo,  where  thej^  drove  out  the  Spanish  troops  to 
give  the  Fleet  a  base  for  supplies  and  repairs.  Again,  when  the 
nations  hurried  relief  columns  to  the  aid  of  their  legations  at  Peking 
at  the  time  of  the  Boxer  outbreak  in  1900,  they  were  the  first  American 
troops  to  land.  Panama  was  an  old  stamping-ground  of  the  sea  sol- 
diers, for  under  our  treaty  rights  the  United  States  held  the  right  to 
land  men  to  keep  the  railroad  on  the  Isthnms  free  of  interference  from 
tJie  revolutionists,  who  kept  the  canal  strip  in  a  turmoil  for  several 
years. 

In  more  recent  years  the  marines  and  bluejackets  from  the  Fleet 
restored  order  in  Nicaragua  after  a  spirited  campaign.  In  the  capture 
of  Coyotepe  Hill,  when  the  marines  were  ready  to  advance  the  blue- 
jackets were  ordered  to  be  held  in  reserve,  as  their  white  uniforms 
would  make  shining  targets  for  the  defenders  of  the  hill.  With  shoe 
brushes  and  yellow  mud  the  sailors  daubed  their  whites  until  tliey 
took  on  the  khaki  color  of  the  marines'  uniforms,  and  then  all  streamed 
u})  the  hill  that  never  before  had  been  stormed.  Again,  when  the  Fleet 
was  ordered  to  seize  Vera  Cruz  in  April,  1914,  a  brigade  of  marines 
from  the  LTnited  States  and  from  the  detachments  of  the  Fleet  landed 
with  their  bluejacket  brothers  and  brought  new  honors  to  the  flag  in 
the  three  days  of  street  fighting  that  ended  in  the  surrender  of  the 
Mexican  seaport.  When  the  Fleet  was  able  to  withdraw,  and  Funston's 
brigade  arrived  from  Galveston,  the  brigade  of  marines  became,  for 
the  next  six  months,  a  part  of  the  Army  to  all  intents. 

There  came  a  year  of  quiet  for  the  sea  soldiers  and  then  Haiti,  a 
hotbed  of  revolutions  and  anarchy,  needed  a  touch  of  what  Theodore 
Roosevelt  once  described  as  the  "loaded  end  of  the  Big  Stick." 
Hardly  had  the  marines  restored  quiet  to  the  Black  Rei)ublic  before  a 
regiment  landed  at  Santo  Domingo  to  repeat  the  work  of  their  brother 
sea  soldiers. 

As  the  Marine  (*orps  is  a  part  of  the  Xavy,  and  its  military  branch, 
we  can  land  them  at  any  spot  where  American  interests  arc  in  danger, 
where  to  land  any  part  of  the  Army  would  be  equal  to  a  declaration 
of  war.     Because  of  this  rule  of  intei-national  law  the  mai'ines  have 


THE  MARINES  OF  THE  " NEVADA" 


REGIMENTAL  DRESS  PARADE  AT  I.EA(.L  K  I.SLAND  NAVY  YARD 

2SS 


COOKING  IN  THE  FIELD 


THE  LEGATION  GUARD  AT  PEKING,  CHINA 
2S9 


2!)0 


TIIK  MAK\'KL  I'.OOK  OF  AMKlfK'AX  Sllll'S 


)1'K  in    I'V  (I.N   A   HA  I'I'LKSIIlr 


seen  service  in  al- 
most every  quarter 
of  the  globe,  and 
this  has  made  it  a 
force  that  can  be 
moved  at  the  short- 
est notice,  ready 
f  0  r  any  kind  of 
lighting.  W  hen 
acting  with  the 
Fleet  they  keep 
their  role  as  a  part 
of  the  Xavy,  but 
when  the  Anny  is 
in  charge,  as  at 
Peking  and  Yova 
Cruz  in  the  later  days,  the  adaptable  marine  is  temporarily  trans- 
ferred to  the  Army  for  service  until  he  is  returned  to  shipboard  or 
barracks.  When  a  detachment  of  the  Army  is  sent  overseas  it  is  no 
easy  task  to  break  up  the  routine  of  a  post,  and  transports  must  be 
chartered,  but  it  is 
only  a  bit  of  rou- 
tine to  send  the  ma- 
rines. Their  trans- 
port is  their  home, 
and  the  Fleet  is 
their  ever  read  y 
base  of  supplies. 

The  main  duties 
of  the  marines  to- 
day are  to  furnish 
detaclunents  for  all 
battleships  a  n  d 
cruisers,  ranging 
frojii  fifty  to  seven- 
ty-five men  under 
one  or  two  officers ; 
to  f  u  r  ni  s  h  regi- 
ments or  battalions 
for  expeditionary 
work     such     as     in  observing  aktillekv  fire 


THE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  SEA  291 

Santo  Domingo;  to  furnish  guards  for  navy-yards,  wireless  stations, 
and  arsenals ;  to  garrison  our  foreign  stations  in  the  Philippines,  Guam, 
and  Hawaii;  guards  for  the  American  legations  in  Peking,  China,  and 
at  Managua,  Nicaragua ;  and  to  take  care  of  the  advance  bases  that  the 
Fleet  might  establish  in  time  of  war.  This  last  would  be  the  principal 
duty  in  wartime.  Out  at  San  Diego  on  the  Oalifornian  coast,  and  at  the 
League  Island  Navy  Yard  at  Philadelphia,  they  are  trained  in  large 
bodies  for  the  duties  of  advance  base  w<jrk.  With  Pershing  a  full  regi- 
ment of  marines  sailed  as  j^art  of  the  first  division  of  regular  troops  for 
service  in  France. 

In  war  between  the  United  States  and  one  of  the  powers  of 
Europe,  that  power  would  first  try  to  seize  a  base  near  our  shores, 
especially  one  in  the  Caribbean  Sea,  where  its  fleet  could  strike  at  the 
Panama  Canal  and  from  that  base  raid  our  coast  and  destroy  our 
naval  station  at  Guantanamo.  It  would  therefore  be  the  first  duty  of 
our  Navy  to  seize  and  fortify  all  such  bases  first.  The  marines  would 
be  landed  at  these  bases,  fortify  the  harbor  entrances  with  naval  guns, 
mount  searchlights,  and  put  the  base  in  readiness  for  a  siege.  From 
these  bases  our  ships  could  strike  at  the  enemj%  to  return  for  repairs 
and  stores,  trusting  to  the  marines  to  drive  off  the  enemy  in  their 
absence. 

So  at  League  Island  and  San  Diego  the  marines  carry  out  the 
handling  and  mounting  of  the  guns,  the  loading  and  unloading  of 
transports,  and  the  hundred  and  one  tasks  that  they  must  later  carry 
out  on  some  tropical  island.  When  the  Fleet  goes  South  the  advance 
base  regiment  goes  with  it,  and  at  twenty-four  hours'  notice  a  regi- 
ment could  embark  on  the  transport  Henderson,  with  its  gams,  artillery, 
radio  outfits,  stores  and  supplies,  motor  trucks  and  armored  cars,  for 
either  an  expedition  or  the  advance  base  task. 

Some  of  the  marines  are  specially  trained  as  infantrymen  while 
on  shore,  others  to  man  the  battalion  of  horse  artillery,  and  there  are 
still  others  for  radio  and  signal  work,  for  mining  channels,  and  other 
special  details.  In  the  Santo  Dcmxingo  campaign  a  squadron  of  motor 
trucks  and  armored  cai'S  operated  in  the  field  with  the  foot  troops,  and 
from  headquarters  columns  were  kept  in  touch  by  wireless. 

The  uniform  of  the  marine  is  a  distinctive  one,  and  in  its  contra- 
dictions of  the  yellow  chevrons  of  the  cavalry,  the  red  trouser-stripes 
of  the  artillery,  and  the  slightly  bell-bottomed  flap  of  the  sailor  where 
the  red  stripes  end,  we  have  an  index  of  the  soldier  and  sailor  who  is 
neither  one,  and  who  is  both.  The  bronze  device  on  his  cap  is  the 
western  half  of  the  glolie,  topped  by  an  eagle,  and  backed  by  a  fouled 


292  TIIK  AFARVEr.  BOOK  OF  AMKRICAX  SlIII'S 

anchor.  With  all  his  military  appearance  his  talk  is  that  of  the  sea. 
Where  his  army  brother,  deciding  to  reenlist,  says  that  he  is  going  to 
"take  on  for  another  hitch,"  the  marine  is  going  to  "ship  over." 

By  an  unwritten  law  the  strength  of  the  Marine  Corps  is  one-fifth 
that  of  the  Navy,  so  that  its  full  authorized  strength  in  time  of  peace 
is  17,400  men.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  it  was  raised  to  30.000.  Its 
ranking  officer  is  a  Major-General;  and  its  officers  are  drawn  from 
graduates  of  the  Naval  Academy,  from  the  ranks  of  the  non-commis- 
sioned officers,  and  from  civil  life.  The  newly  appointed  second  lieu- 
tenants are  sent  to  the  school  at  Norfolk,  Virginia,  for  a  year's  instruc- 
tion and  then  they  go  either  to  the  Fleet,  to  the  outposts  in  the  Far 
East,  or  to  the  bases  at  League  Island  or  San  Diego,  although  many 
of  them  have  gone  straight  from  the  schoolroom  to  the  firing  line  of 
the  expeditionary  forces.    For,  as  Kipling  wrote : 

"There  isn't  a  job  on  the  top  o'  the  eaitli  tlie  beggar  don't  know,  nor  do — 
Yon  can  leave  him  at  night  on  a  bald  man's  'ead  to  paddle  his  own  canoe — 
'E's  a  sort  of  a  bloomin'  cosmopolouse — 
Soldier  an'  sailor  too!" 


I 


-»  ■>■•  ^ 


I  •  ^  ■<  iih  I  ^  ■ 


Courtesy  of  "Our  Navy" 


AliL  IN  THE  DAY  S  WORK 


XXV 


HEROES   OF   THE    COAST    GUARD 


IN  the  maritime  world  the  United  States   Coast  Guard  holds   a 
unique  and  interesting  position.     Maintained  by  the  Government 

primarily  to  save  life  and  property  from  the  perils  of  the  sea,  it 
has  never  failed  to  respond  nobly  in  defending  the  nation  in  times  of 
war.  The  very  guns  with  which  the  cruising  cutters  of  the  Coast 
Guard  are  armed,  while  used  to  hurl  death-dealing  shells  at  our 
enemies,  are  called  upon  in  the  piping  times  of  peace  to  shoot  life- 
lines to  wrecked  vessels  for  the  purpose  of  saving  the  lives  of  the 
imperiled  crews  and  passengers.  In  times  of  war  the  Coast  Guard 
stands  for  the  self-preservation  of  the  nation,  and  when  peace  reigns 
it  is  our  greatest  agent  to  help  those  in  danger  at  sea. 

The  Coast  Guard,  as  now  named  and  organized,  did  not  come  into 
existence  until  1915,  when  CoiTgress  combined  the  then  existing 
Revenue-Cutter  and  Life-Saving  Services  into  the  Coast  Guard.  The 
Revenue-Cutter  Service  was  established  in  1790  for  the  purpose  of 
preventing  smuggling  and  aiding  in  the  national  defense.  In  fact  it 
was  the  first  armed  sea  service  of  the  United  States,  as  no  regular 
navy  existed  at  that  time.  Before  the  Navy  was  organized  in  179G 
the  vessels  used  for  naval  purposes  during  the  Revolutionary  War  and 
forming  the  Continental  Navy  had  been  abandoned. 

293 


294  TIIK  MAin'ET.  BOOK  OF  AArEKTOAN  SHIPS 


COAST    GUARD    CADETS    AT    NEW    LONDON    ACADEMY 


The  earlier  rov- 
emie  cutters  \v  e  r  e 
small,  fast  sailing 
vessels,  of  about  100 
tons,  each  manned  by 
about  tliii'ty  ofiicers 
anil  men  and  armed 
w  i  t  li  cannon.  Al- 
though diminutive  in 
size,  their  crews  were 
fearless  and  daring. 
Many  deeds  of  brav- 
ery were  performed, 
both  in  peace  and  in 
war.  D  u  r  i  n  g  the 
trouljle  with  France 
in  1798  and  1799  one 
of  these  cutters,  the 

Picl'ci'iiuj.  alone  cai)tured  ten  prizes  in  engagements  with  the  French, 

and  another  cutter,  the  Eagle,  captured  five. 

During  the  War  of  1812  the  first  capture  made  was  that  of  the 

British  topsail  schooner  Patriot  by  the  revemie  cutter  Jefferson.     A 

total  of  fourteen  British  vessels  captured,  with  their  crews  and  guns, 

briefly  tells  the  story  of  the  prowess  of  the  Revenue-Cutter  Service  in 

that  war. 

In  the  troubles 

with   the   Seminole 

Indians,      several 

revenue  cutters 

])layed  so  conspic- 
uous a   part  as  to 

win   the   praise   of 

the  naval  officer  in 

charge  of  the  sea 

forces.    In  the  war 

with    Mexico    five 

revenue  cutters 

were    engaged     in 

the  naval  opera- 
tions     a  11  d      ix'r- 

formed    v  a  1  i  a  n  t  ashoue  in  a  navy  yard  for  drill 


TIEROT-^S  OF  TIIF;  COAST  (JrATfO 


295 


service  in  connection  with  the  blockading  fieet  along  the  Mexican 
Coast.  The  cutters  were  engaged  in  the  Paraguayan  expedition,  in 
the  Civil  "Wai',  and  in  the  war  with  Spain.  During  the  Civil  War  it 
was  to  a  revenue  cutter  that  the  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  wired 
his  famous  oi'der,  "If 
any  man  hauls  down 
the  A  m  eric  a  n  flag, 
shoot  him  on  the 
spot." 

It  was  to  the  cap- 
tain of  a  revenue  cut- 
ter that  Congress 
awarded  the  only  gold 
medal  granted  by  that 
body  for  conspicuous 
service  during  the  war 
with  Spain. 

Although  gallant 
service  has  been  ren- 
dered to  the  Govern- 
ment by  the  Coast 
Guard  in  every  war  in 
which  this  country  has 
been  engaged,  it  is  its 
peaceful  function  of 
saving  lives  and  prop- 
erty that  has  made  it 
most  famous.  As  our 
maritime  commerce 
grew,  the  importance 
of  the  revenue  cutters 
as  aids  to  vessels  in 
distress  increased  in 
proportion.  For  many 
years  past  the  Presi- 
dent has  issued  an  annual  proclamation  directing  all  cutters  along  the 
Atlantic  Coast  to  cruise  vigilantly  at  sea  from  December  1st  until  April 
1st  for  the  purpose  of  lending  aid  to  vessels  in  distress. 

So  important  did  the  services  of  these  Government  vessels  become 
that  there  arose  a  general  demand  for  similar  aid  to  vessels  in  dis- 
tress along  the  shores.     Yielding  to   this   demand,  the   former  Life- 


Photo  by  U.  S.  S.  "Seneca,"  C.  G. 

COAST  GUAJID  CUTTERS  PATROL  THE  YALE-HARVARD 
BOAT  RACES 


l29(i 


TIIK  ^FAKVEL  P.OOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Saving  Service  was  autliiu'lze<l  by  Congress  and  for  several  years  it 
was  operated  under  the  direction  of  the  Revenue-Cutter  Service. 
Finally  in  1878  its  activities  had  grown  to  such  proportions  that  it 

was  organized  as  a 
separate  bureau  of 
the  Treasury  De- 
partment. At  all  of 
the  more  dangerous 
points  along  the  At- 
lantic, Gulf,  and  Pa- 
cific Coasts  and  on 
the  shores  of  the 
Great  Lakes,  sta- 
tions were  gradual- 
ly built  as  the  ap- 
propriations w  ere 
made,  so  that  when 
again  c  o  m  b  i  n  e  d 
with  the  Revenue- 
Cutter  Service  un- 
der the  name  of  the 
Coast  Guard  there 
were  280  of  these 
stations  maintained 
by  the  Government. 
In  several  por- 
tions of  our  coast 
w  here  connnerce 
converges  toward 
great  cities,  tlie  sta- 
tions a  r  e  located 
fro  m  five  to  ten 
miles  apart,  so  that 
it  is  possible  to 
maintain  a  continu- 
ous jiatrol.  In  these 
vicinities,  therefore, 
any  vessel  which  goes  ashore  or  is  in  distress  near  the  beach  may  be 
certain  of  securing  relief  from  the  vigilant  coast  guardsmen.  Each 
station  is  manned  by  a  keeper  and  seven  men,  who  maintain  a  constant 
lookout  from  a  tower  on  or  near  the  station,  and  in  addition  patrol  the 


Photo  by  U.  S.  S.  '  'Seneca,' '  C.  G. 

A  COAST  GUARD  SURGEON  BOARDS  FRENCH  FISHING  BARK 
TO  GIVE  MEDICAL  AID 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Vndcncood 

THE  BREECHES  BUOY  TRAXSFERS  MEN  FROM  STRANDED  SHIPS  TO  SAFETY 


PliOto  by  U.  S.  S.  "Seneca."  C.  G. 

TOWING  OVERTURNED  SCHOONER  INTO  PORT  400  MILES  AWAY 


298 


Till-:  .mak'\'i-:l  i'.ook  of  amkkicax  suits 


l'iii,lu  (,(/  faiil.  E.  P.  ISeilhuU.  L\  .S   C.  G. 

C.  G.  C.  "uNALGA"aSSISTING  steamship  "GEORGIAN  "  ASHORE 
ON  COAST  OF  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA 


1  teach  for  about 
,ivo  miles  o  a  c  h 
way,  ever  on.  the 
lookout  for  vessels 
in  ili  stress.  At 
iiinht  the  patrol- 
men carry  lanterns 
a  n  (1  illuminating 
signals  with  wliicli 
to  w  a  r  n  vessels 
when  they  are  ap- 
proaching too  ch)se 
to  the  beach  or  to 
dangerous  r  e  e  f  s 
and  shoals. 

In  case  a  ves- 
sel goes  ashore  and 
boats  cannot  reach 
her  to  remove  the  passengers,  a  small  line  is  shot  over  the  wreck.  AVith 
this  small  line  a  larger  line  can  be  hauled  aboard,  which,  when  made 
fast  to  a  standing  spar,  is  used  as  a  means  for  hauling  to  and  fro  the 
breeches  buoy  containing  one  person  at  a  time  until  all  the  crew  and 
passengers  are  rescued.  Attached  to  the  line  when  first  hauled  off 
is  a  small  piece  of  board,  on  wliich  is  jtainted  in  several  different 
languages  full  di- 
rections for  mak- 
ing the  line  and 
breeches  buoy  fast 
to  the  wreck. 
Sometimes  instead 
of  the  breeches 
buoy  a  small  life 
car  shapeil  like  a 
boat  is  used.  In 
this  car  two  or 
three  passengers 
at  a  time  may  be 
hauled  ashore  in 
safety.      By   this 

service     thousands    I'l^.i..  h,  i  ,-,  n.  -scneca:-  c.  g. 
of      shipwrecked  ue  patrol  in  the  north  Atlantic 


HEROES  OF  THE  COAST  GUAED 


299 


Pholu  by  V.  S.  S 


THE  HUNT  FOR  DERELICTS 


passengers  owe 
their  lives  to  the 
prompt  action  of 
the  life-savers  us- 
ing these  ingenious 
devices. 

Probabl}'  the 
majority  of  t  li  e 
eases  of  assistance 
rendered  by  t  li  e 
Coast  Guard  sta- 
tions are  by  t  h  o 
use  of  the  surf- 
boats,  from  two  to 
five   of    whicli    are 

supplied  to  each  station  These  boats  are  especially  designed  to 
be  launched  through  the  most  treacherous  surf,  and  to  withstand  the 
stormiest  of  seas.  Whenever  the  condition  allows  it,  these  surfboats 
are  propelled  by  gasoline  engines,  usually  two  to  each  boat,  which 
operate  twin  screws.  The  typical  power  surfboat  is  twenty-six  feet 
long,  and  is  of  the  self-bailing  type.  This  is  arranged  by  having  the 
bottom  portion  of  the  boat  built  water-tight  and  decked  over  to  a 
lu'ight  about  four  or  five  inches  above  the  water  line.  If  the  boat 
ships  a  sea  the  buoyance  of  the  water-tight  portion  raises  the  boat, 
and  the  water  runs  out  through  the  scuppers  fitted  with  non-return 
valves  along  the  sides. 

Another  type 
of  boat  now  much 
used  is  the  power 
lifeboat,  a  small 
craft  thirty-six 
feet  long,  sturdily 
built  and  capable 
of  making  eight  to 
ten  miles  an  hour. 
These  boats  are 
self-righting  a  n  d 
self-bailing  and 
are  operated  b  y 
stations   located 

t'REW  GATHERING   WILD   BIRDS'   EGGS   ON  ALASKAN  ISLAND       UCar  baVS  Or   iulets 


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Copyright  by  the  International  Film  Service.  Inc. 

RUNNING  OUT  THE  SUKF  BOAT 


OFFICKKS  AND  I'KEW  OF    I'HK  "MANNl.Mli"  IN  ALASKAN  WATEKS 


HEROES  OF  TFIE  COAST  GUARD  301 

where  it  is  feasible  to  run  out  to  sea  over  the  bars  or  harbor  entrances. 
The  power  surfboat,  being  much  lighter,  is  hauled  along  the  beach  on 
a  boat  wagon,  usually  drawn  by  horses,  and  is  launched  through  the 
surf  at  a  point  as  near  to  the  wreck  as  it  is  possible  to  get.  As  many 
as  forty  people  at  a  time  can  be  rescued  by  the  power  lifeboat,  and 
possibly  ten  or  twelve  shipwrecked  persons  may  be  taken  into  the 
surfboats  in  addition  to  their  crows.  Many  brave  deeds  of  rescue 
are  performed  with  these  boats,  and  the  records  of  the  Coast  Guard 
teem  with  incidents  of  lives  saved  under  the  most  trying  circumstances. 

While  the  activities  of  the  Coast  Guard  stations  are  confined  to 
rescue  work  along  the  shores,  the  cutters  of  the  Coast  Guard  form  a 
sea  life-saving  agency,  and  confine  their  principal  attention  to  assist- 
ing disabled  vessels  at  sea,  generally  near  the  coast,  but  at  times 
they  operate  many  miles  away  from  the  shore.  All  sea-going  cutters 
are  equipped  with  radio  apparatus,  and  of  recent  years  the  great 
majority  of  the  rescues  effected  by  them  have  been  in  answer  to  calls 
of  S.  0.  S.  from  vessels  which  are  equipped  with  wireless  apparatus 
and  which  themselves  are  in  trouble,  or  have  sighted  other  distressed 
vessels  not  equipped  with  this  wonderful  invention  of  Marconi.  Fre- 
quently the  cutters  and  stations  work  together  in  assistance  to  dis- 
tressed vessels.  Whenever  vessels  are  sighted  offshore  in  distress, 
the  Coast  Guard  patrolmen  telephone  the  fact  to  the  most  available 
radio  station,  which,  in  turn,  sends  out  a  broadcast  message  for  the 
nearest  cutter. 

The  Coast  Guard  cutters  are  of  two  principal  classes:  harbor 
cutters  and  cruising  cutters.  The  harbor  cutters  are  usually  small 
vessels  about  one  hundred  feet  long  and  of  the  tugboat  type.  You 
can  see  them  at  all  the  leading  seaports  of  the  country,  where  they  are 
regularly  stationed  and  perform  services  in  connection  with  the  cus- 
toms houses.  Eveiy  incoming  foreign  vessel  must  be  boarded  by  a 
cutter  and  its  papers  examined  before  it  is  allowed  to  come  to  its  pier 
to  discharge  cargo.  Harbor  cutters  are  also  used  to  patrol  regattas 
and  to  enforce  anchorage  regulations  at  the  ports  of  New  York,  Chi- 
cago, and  at  other  places  where  it  is  desirable.  In  New  York  Harbor, 
for  instance,  if  vessels  were  allowed  to  anchor  indiscriminately  there 
would  be  much  confusion  and  congestion.  If  a  vessel  should  anchor 
off  any  of  the  great  ferries  to  Brooklyn  or  Jersey  City  it  would  seri- 
ously interfere  with  the  traffic.  To  avoid  this,  certain  portions  of  the 
harbor  are  set  aside  as  anchorages,  usually  at  places  where  anchored 
vessels  will  not  interfere  with  the  ordinarv  routes  of  ferrvboats  and 


302 


Till';  .MAH\'EL  J5()0K  OP^  AMI^KICAX  SHIPS 


other  traffic.  If  vessels  should  anchor  outside  of  these  restricted  areas 
they  are  at  once  boarded  by  the  cutter  and  told  to  move.  Failure  to 
comjoly  with  instructions  after  the  first  warning  usually  results  in  a  fine 
of  one  hundred  dollars.  In  more  serious  cases  the  masters  of  the 
otTending  vessels  may  lose  their  licenses.  As  a  rule,  the  vessels  are 
anxious  to  comi)ly  with  the  law,  and  otTenses  are  limited  to  persons 
who  are  ignorant  of  the  regulations. 

The  cruising  cuttei's  are,  in  general,  vessels  of  about  one  thousand 

tons  displacement 
a  n  d  correspond 
closely  to  the  gun- 
boat class  in  the 
Xavy.  They  cruise 
in  the  most  severe 
weather  and  are 
provided  Avith  all 
the  necessary  ap- 
]ilianccs  for  ren- 
dering aid  to  ves- 
sels in  distress. 
They  have  unusu- 
ally large  capaci- 
ties for  coal  and 
water  anil  1  h  u  s 
keep  the  sea  for  long  periods  in  search  of  distressed  vessels  or  of 
derelicts. 

The  destruction  of  derelicts  is  one  of  the  main  functions  of  the 
Coast  Guard  and  annually  an  average  of  thirty  of  these  menaces  to 
navigation  are  either  destroyed  or  towed  to  tlie  nearest  port  by  the 
cutters.  Two  of  the  cutters  are  detailed  in  March  of  each  year  to 
patrol  the  ice-tields  of  the  North  Atlantic  Ocean  in  oider  to  warn 
approaching  vessels  of  dangerous  bergs  or  tloes  which  are  in  their 
paths.  This  service  was  begun  shortly  after  the  destruction  of  the 
Titanic,  Avhich  struck  an  iceberg  and  was  lost  with  enormous  sacrilice 
of  life  on  April  15,  1912. 

On  the  Pacific  Ocean  two  or  three  cutters  are  detailed  annually 
to  patrol  the  Bering  Sea  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  seal  herds  wliieli  congregate  at  the  Pribih)f  Islands  dur- 
ing the  summer  months.  An  international  agreement  between  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain,  Eussia,  and  Japan  makes  it  illegal  for 
seals  to  be  taken  in  the  water  by  anybody.     This  practice  is  known. 


THE  COAST  GUARD  CUTTEK  "MANNING" 


IIKROKS  OF  TIIK  C'OAST  (JUAIH) 


303 


Courlesy  of  Our  A'.ii:;" 

THE  COAST  GUARD  CUTTERS  ARE  SWORN  FOES  TO  DERELICTS 


as  pelagic  sealing, 
and  to  carry  out 
this  international 
agreement  the  cut- 
ters cruise  actively 
in  these  waters 
througliont  the 
season. 

One  cutter,  the 
Bear,  makes  an  an- 
nual cruise  to 
Point  Barrow  and 
t  li  e  northernmost 
l)ortion  of  Alaska. 
This  is  the  only 
vessel  that  ever  reaches  many  of  these  distant  places,  and  great  benefit 
is  given  to  the  native  population  by  enforcing  the  laws  and  rendering 
medical  assistance  to  the  sick. 

For  the  past  ten  years  another  cutter  has  l)een  detailed  to  eonve,y 
the  United  States  Court  from  port  to  port  in  the  remote  stretches 
of  Alaska  to  try  violators  of  the  law.  Owing  to  the  very  poor  trans- 
portation facilities  there  is  no  other  means  of  reaching  these  outlying 
districts. 

On  the  Atlantic  Coast  one  cutter,  the  Androscoggin,  is  detailed 
to  accompany  the  American  fishing  fleet  on  its  cruises  in  the  waters 
off  Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotia  to  render  medical  and  surgical 
aid  to  the  fishermen. 

All  portions  of 
the  coast  of  the 
United  States 
Tp  r  o  ])  e  r,  and  of 
Alaska,  Porto 
Rico,  and  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands,  are 
patrolled  by  the 
cutters  to  give  aid 
to  till'  ilistressed 
and  to  e  n  fore  e 
navigation  a  n  d 
motorboat    1  a  w  s. 

THE  COAST  GUARD  "  SENECA "  ON  PATROL  On     board     t  ll  C  S  6 


?M 


TUF.  :\rARVEL  P.OOK  OF  A^SFERTCAX  SHTPS 


ships  strict  military  discipline  is  maintained,  the  same  as  on  vessels  of 
the  Navy.  The  crews  are  drilled  in  the  u:'e  of  the  six-pomider  guns, 
with  which  every  cruising  cutter  is  armed.  Simjily  by  direction  of  the 
President  the  Coast  Guard  can  be  transferred  to  the  Navy  in  time  of 
peace,  and  in  war  time  it  automatically  becomes  a  portion  of  the  reg- 
ular Navy,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  The  Coast 
Guard,  with  its  four  thousand  trained  officers  and  men  and  its  280  sta- 
tions and  47  cutters,  thus  becomes  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  the  Navy  for 
the  national  defense. 

To  show  the  value  of  tlic  services  which  the  Coast  Guard  renders 
the  jniblic  in  times  of  peace,  it  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  on 
an  average  1,400  lives  are  annually  saved  from  drowning,  and  that  on 
board  shijis  assisted  there  are  an  average  of  from  15,000  to  18,000 
persons.  The  value  of  the  property  annually  saved  from  destruction 
by  the  elements  amounts  to  over  ten  million  dollars,  whereas  the  total 
cost  of  the  Coast  Guard  to  the  Government  is  approximately  five  and 
one-half  millions  for  the  same  period.  In  addition  to  these  services 
performed,  in  a  recent  year  179  vessels  were  warned  that  they  were 
running  into  danger  along  the  coasts,  and  93  fires  in  buildings  at 
wharves  and  other  structures  bearing  on  the  shore  line  were  extin- 
guished; the  bodies  of  734  jjcrsons  who  met  death  by  drowning  were 
recovered;  numerous  vessels  were  piloted  into  safe  places;  lost  chil- 
dren were  restored  to  their  parents;  criminals  were  apprehended; 
food,  water,  and  fuel  were  furnished  to  crews  of  distressed  vessels; 
and  in  fact  the  Coast  Guard  is  called  upon  for  almost  any  service 
that  the  public  requires  along  our  seacoasts.  The  crews  are  always 
willing  and  obliging,  and  arc  called  upon  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and 
night  to  aid  suffering  humanity.  The  military  training  with  which 
they  are  instilled  makes  tlioni  liighly  efficient  for  quick  response  to 
calls  for  assistance. 

To  train  the  commissioned  officers  of  the  Coast  (iuard  there  is 
maintained  at  New  London,  Connecticut,  the  (\>ast  (iuard  Acadcmv, 


/■/,„/,.  In,  f\,i,i    E    II    R.rfh.ilf.  V.  .S,  C,  G. 


A  HEKl)  OK  .SKA  LloXS 


HEROES  OF  THE  COAST  GUARD  305 

which  is  operated  along  lines  similar  to  the  Naval  Academy.  No  polit- 
ical influence  is  necessary  to  secure  appointments  as  cadets  in  the 
Coast  Guard.  Examinations  for  appointment  are  strictly  competitive 
and  are  open  to  all  young  Ajnericans  who  possess  the  necessary  qualifi- 
cations. The  instructicm  is  both  theoretical  and  practical.  The  Coast 
Guard  cutter  liasca,  formerly  the  Bancroft,  built  for  the  cadets  of  the 
Naval  Academy,  is  annually  detailed  to  take  the  Coast  Guard  cadets 
on  a  cruise  extending  over  a  period  of  from  three  to  four  months. 
Practical  instruction  in  seamanship,  navigation,  and  engineering  is 
given  all  cadets,  and  at  the  end  of  the  three  years'  course  they  are 
proficient  in  the  duties  of  a  third  lieutenant,  to  which  rank  they  are 
appointed.  The  commissioned  ranks  of  the  Coast  Guard  correspond 
to  similar  ranks  in  the  Army  and  Navy. 

Republics  are  notoriously  ungrateful,  we  are  told,  but  our  country 
is  keenly  alive  to  the  self-sacrificing  heroism  that  has  always  marked 
its  gallant  Coast  Guard. 


Photo  by  McAboy 


THE  NAVAL  ACADEMY'S  ATHLETIC  FIELD 


XXVI 


THE    UNITED     STATES     NAVAL    ACADEMY 


IN  the  early  days  of  tlic  American  Navy  our  officers  began  as  mere 
boys,  scarcely  in  their  teens,  to  learn  the  duties  of  their  profes- 
sion on  board  the  frigates.  It  was  a  rough  and  ready  school, 
and  it  developed  such  famous  officers  as  John  Paul  Jones,  Stejihen 
Decatur,  David  Farragut,  and  otliei-s  who  won  distinction  in  our 
early  wars.  They  were  stationed  in  the  waist  or  midship  portion  of 
the  ship  while  under  way,  or  in  battle,  to  pass  orders  along,  and  for 
this  reason  they  were  known  as  midshipmen.  It  was  only  in  recent 
years  that  the  old  name  was  brought  back  after  the  term  "naval 
cadet"  had  been  in  use  for  several  years,  and  its  retuin  was  a  pojiular 
change. 
'  As  the  Navy  grew,  however,  its  officers  were  the  first  to  see  that 
they  needed  more  training  than  was  possible   aboard  shi]i,  ami   for 

300 


THE  UX1TP]I)  STATES  NAVAL  ACADEMY 


307 


years  they  fought  for  a  better  school  than  the  decks  of  the  frigates 
and  sloops-of-war  for  the  training  of  the  midshipmen.  Finally,  in 
1845,  their  fight  was  crowned  with  success.  George  Bancroft,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  gave  them  the  Naval  School,  and  to-day  many 
officers  who  are  graduates  of  the  modern  Naval  Academy  refer  to  it 
as  the  Navy  School. 

It  was  founded  at  Annapolis,  the  capital  of  Maryland,  where  the 
Severn  River  enters  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  old  round  walls  of  the 
Army  post  at  Fort  Severn  were  the  first  quarters  for  the  middies, 
and  later  the  Government  bought  the  beautiful  grounds  and  old  man- 
sion of  Maryland's  colonial  governors.  There  was  little  system  in 
the  arrangement  of  the  old  buildings,  and  few  of  them  had  any  dis- 
tinction of  beauty  in  themselves  until  the  present  new  group  of  build- 
ings took  their  place  early  in  1900. 

But  the  fine  old  elms  that  shaded  the  walks  and  the  vistas  of  the 
bay  sparkling  in  the  sunlight  had  a  great  charm.  Annapolis  was  a 
sleepy  old  town,  rich  in  history,  and  full  of  splendid  types  of  colonial 
architecture.  Several  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
lived  there  or  had  their  plantations  in  the  rolling  countryside.  It 
was  a  fine  location  for  the  Navy  School,  rich  in  traditions,  and  of  a 
quiet  atmosphere. 

Sail  changed  to  steam,  and  wooden  ships  to  iron,  and  the  Naval 


Copi/rirjhl  b,j  a.  E.  Bain 


THE  ACADEMY  CAMPUS 


Photo  by  McAboy 


INSTRUCTING  IN  AUXILIARY  ENGINES 


PHulo  tnj  McAboy 


A  CLASS  IN  THE  STEAM  LM.l.NLl.Ul  M.   1)L1'.\  I;  1  ML.M 
30S 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVAL  ACADEMY 


309 


School  kept  pace 
with  the  changes 
and  progress  of 
the  Navy.  To-day 
the  Naval  Acad- 
emy is  abreast 
with  naval  prog- 
ress and  as  science 
works  changes  in 
the  Fleet  the  in- 
structors at  An- 
napolis keep  their 
midshipmen  in 
step  with  reforms. 
Early  in  the  Civil 
War  the  Navy 
School  was  moved 
North  to  Newport, 
Rhode  Island,  and 
then  back  to  its 
old  moorings  in 
1865.  Admiral 
David    D.    Porter, 

one  of  the  naval  heroes  of  the  war,  became  its  Superintendent  and 
under  his  wise  rule  began  the  modern  Naval  Academj'. 

A  board  of  naval  officers  recommended  sweeping  changes  in  the 
equipment  of  the  Naval  Academy  in  1895,  the  chief  of  which  was  a 
complete  set  of  new  buildings  to  be  grouped  harmoniously  with  the 
natural  beauty  of  the  grounds.  Congress  fell  in  line  with  their  views 
and  in  the  spring  of  1899  the  changes  were  begun. 

The  Naval  Academy  of  to-day  has  a  great  quadrangle  or  campus 
surrounded  by  massive  buildings.  The  midshipmen  are  quartered 
in  Bancroft  Hall,  facing  the  campus  on  one  side  and  overlooking  the 
parade  ground  in  the  rear,  with  the  blue  Chesapeake  stretching  away 
as  far  as  the  eye  can  see.  Bancroft  Hall  is  flanked  on  one  side  by  the 
armory,  and  on  the  other  by  the  boat-house.  Across  the  square  of 
old  turf  and  great  elms,  its  walks  lined  by  such  trophies  as  captured 
cannon,  the  bronze  bell  brought  l)ack  from  Ja])an  by  Commodore  Perry, 
and  Tecumseh,  a  famous  figurehead  of  the  old  frigate  Delaivare,  lies 
the  Academic  Building.  The  Physics  and  Chemistry  Building  is  on 
one  side  and  on  the  other  the  Steam  Engineering  Building.    The  chief 


iiAl  K  Htd.M  THE  .SUMMEK  LRVIfiE 


310 


THE  :\rARVRL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


building  on  the  other  side  is  the  ^lemorial  Chapel.  Its  striking  dome 
is  a  landmark  for  miles.  Under  its  cover,  in  a  specially  built  crypt, 
lies  the  body  of  John  Paul  Jones,  l)rought  back  from  an  obscure  grave 
in  France  through  the  et^'orts  of  General  Horace  Porter,  our  Ambas- 
sador, by  a  squadron  of  American  men-o'-war,  in  190().  The  cere- 
monies were  attended  by  the  President  and  his  Cabinet,  the  French 
Ambassador  and  other  disting-uislied  men.  In  Memorial  Chapel  the 
graduation  exercises  are  held  and  the  President  comes  from  Washing- 
ton to  give  the  diplomas. 

Officers'  quarters  and  other  buildings  line  the  walks,  all  of  which 
bear  the  names  of  famous  naval  officers.  It  was  in  Buchanan  Row 
that  Admiral  Cervera  and  the  other  Spanish  officers  captured  at  San- 
tiago were  quartered  until  the  close  of  the  Spanish  War. 

Besides  the  parade  grounds,  with  its  room  for  the  drill  of  a  bri- 
gade, are  other  spaces  for  drill,  and  well-equipped  fields  for  football, 
baseball  and  other  sports. 

The  main  street  of  "Crab  Town,"  as  the  irreverent  middies  know 
Annapolis,  leads  directly  to  the  main  gate  of  the  Naval  Academy. 
Here  is  the  midshipman  officer  of  the  day,  and  when  you  pass  through 


Photu  bu  McAbiiu 


READY  FOR  STEAM  LAUNCH  MANEUVEii.S 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVAL  ACADEMY  311 

you  are  at  once  struck  by  the  scene.  The  grounds  and  buildings  are 
as  immaculate  as  the  decks  of  a  ship.  A  column  of  midshipmen  is 
swinging  along  under  its  officers  to  some  formation.  The  sound  of 
a  bugle  comes  from  a  distance,  and  on  the  half-hour  comes  the  meas- 
ured strokes  of  a  ship's  bell.  Every  one  seems  to  be  in  blue  uniform, 
and  over  it  all  lie  the  outward  signs  of  the  perfect  discipline  that  is 
the  pride  of  the  Academy.  The  same  controlling  features  of  Admiral 
Porter's  days  are  still  in  force. 

Let  us  follow  a  group  of  candidates  who  arrive  in  Annapolis  for 
the  entrance  examinations  in  May.  Here  is  the  son  of  an  Army  or 
Navy  officer  who  has  grown  up  in  military  surroundings,  and  who 
walks  with  the  "brace"  of  a  midshipman  in  his  carriage.  The  boy 
with  him  is  from  an  inland  town  where  a  ship  is  unknown;  and  still 
another  hails  from  a  fresh-water  town  in  the  interior.  Another,  from 
a  great  Eastern  city,  predestined  by  his  father  to  be  a  lawyer,  is  on 
the  threshold  of  his  ambition  to  follow  the  sea.  Instead  of  Harvard 
the  Naval  Academy  is  to  be  his  Alma  Mater.  They  must  be  between 
the  ages  of  16  and  20,  of  sound  body  and  good  physique.  They  must 
be  well  grounded  in  algebra,  arithmetic,  geometry,  English  grammar, 
and  the  history  of  the  LTnited  States,  to  pass  the  strict  entrance 
examinations. 

Once  past  that  ordeal  they  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  are 
now  midshipmen  in  the  United  States  Navy.  They  dotf  their  civilian 
attire  for  the  navy  blue  blouse  and  trousers.  On  their  sleeves  is  a 
thin  stripe  of  gold  braid  and  a  star.  On  their  collar  is  a  gold  anchor, 
and  on  their  cap  the  fouled  anchor  of  the  midshipmen  brigade.  The 
brigade  knows  them  as  plebes,  but  the  old  custom  of  hazing  or  run- 
ning the  plebes  died  a  natural  death  several  years  ago. 

Uncle  Sam  takes  his  middies  at  a  critical  period  in  their  lives. 
He  isolates  them  for  four  years  from  outside  influences  and  from 
the  start  breeds  in  them  the  high  standards  and  traditions  of  honor 
that  are  the  Navy's. 

Under  the  law  each  Senator,  Representative,  and  Delegate  of 
Congress  has  the  appointment  of  three  midshipmen.  Tlie  District  of 
Columbia  is  entitled  to  two  and  Porto  Rico  to  one.  The  President 
a})points  ten  more  at  large  from  the  country  and  one  hundred  vacancies 
are  open  each  year  to  the  enlisted  men  of  the  Navy.  In  1916  Congress 
raised  the  strength  of  the  brigade  from  1,200  to  1,700  midshipmen. 

Our  new  middies  soon  learn  that  their  paj^  is  to  be  $600  a  year 
and  in  addition  ration  money  at  the  rate  of  thirty  cents  a  day.  From 
this  sum,  which  is  retained  by  the  Academy  authorities,  each  midship- 


312 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


man  receives  his  uniforms,  books  and  other  necessaries,  and  a  small 
monthly  sum  for  spending-money.  t]ach  year  enough  of  this  sum  is 
held  out  so  that  on  graduation  the  newiv-fledged  ensigns  have  on  hand 


Photo  by  t'aut  Th 


RESTING  PLACE  OF  JOHN  PAUL  JONES 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVAL  ACADEMY 


31.3 


money  willi  wliicli  to  buy 
their  swords  and  uniforms 
to  report  to  the  Fleet. 

From  reveille  to  taps 
the  plebes  are  busy  with 
studies  and  routine  drills. 
They  learn  the  Swedish 
setting-up  drills,  infantry 
exercises,  how  to  knot  and 
splice,  to  handle  small 
boats  under  sail  and  oars, 
and  how  to  swim.  At  night 
they  study  in  a  room  sim- 
ple as  the  old  quarters  in 
the  steerage  of  the  frigate 
where  the  first  American 
midshipmen  lived.  There 
are  only  a  table,  wardrobe, 
and  chairs  for  furniture 
and  there  is  neither  a  car- 
pet nor  a  rug  on  the  spot- 
less floor,  nor  pictures  on 
the  walls.     What  a  contrast  such  a  room  is  to  the  average  college 


Photo  by  McAbotj 


THE  COLOR  GUARD 


While  the  plebes  make  ready  in  the  summer  for  the  academic 
year,  which  begins  for  the  brigade  early  in  October,  the  midshipmen 
of  the  three  other  classes  are  off  on  the  summer  cruise.  One  year  the 
practice  ships  carried  the  middies  to  English  and  Mediterranean  i)orts ; 
the  next  year  to  Guantanamo  and  New  England.  In  1915  three  battle- 
ships took  them  on  board  at  Annapolis  and  proceeded  to  the  Pan- 
American  Exposition  in  California.  The  route  carried  them  through 
the  Panama  Canal,  and  the  leading  sliip,  the  Missouri,  on  July  16, 
1915,  with  its  crew  of  midshipmen,  won  the  honor  of  being  the  first 
battleship  to  pass  through. 

Long  before  "June  Week" — with  its  rounds  of  exhibition  drills, 
its  dances,  and  its  ceremonies — rolls  around,  the  plebes  are  erect  and 
strong,  faithful  and  alert  in  obedience  and  orders,  and  snappy  in  the 
precision  of  their  many  drills.  They  have  absorbed  much  of  the  Naval 
Academy's  code  of  honor.  They  have  learned  how  to  dance  as  well 
as  how  to  drill  and  shoot,  and  some  have  already  distingaiished  them- 
selves on  the  many  athletic  teams  that  wear  the  Navy's  insignia.    Some 


Pl,„tii  hii  Paul  rimmiisu,,,  X.  Y. 


GOING  ALOFT  ON  THE      SEVERN 
314 


THE  UNITED  STATES  NAVAL  ACADEMY 


315 


have  ijlayod  in  the  great  game  against  West  Point  and  won  the  yellow 
N  of  the  eleven.  Others  have  made  the  baseball  team  and  its  white 
N.  In  track  athletics,  rifle  and  pistol  sliooting,  in  sailing  or  swim- 
ming, in  tennis  or  wrestling,  in  gymnastics  or  fencing,  still  others 
have  won  honors.  A  few  have  won  their  seats  in  the  eight-oared 
racing  shell  and  swept  down  the  Severn  to  the  finishing-line  ahead 
of  a  crack  college  crew.     In  spite  of  the  limited  time  for  athletics  at 


Photo  by  McAbny 


MIDSHIPMEN'  AT  ARTILLERY  DRILL 


the  Naval  Academy  it  has  ranked  for  yeais  with  the  best  of  the  colleges 
in  every  form  of  outdoor  skill. 

For  less  strenuous  recreation  there  is  always  the  broad  Chesa- 
peake for  sailing,  rowing,  and  swimming  parties.  On  Saturday  after- 
noons there  are  the  college  matches  in  the  season;  and  on  Sunday 
afternoons  and  evenings  the  m'id.shipmen  are  allowed  to  visit  in  An- 
napolis or  seek  other  recreation.  The  Armory  is  the  scene  of  fre- 
quent hops  and  more  informal  dances,  and  its  background  of  colors 
and  sigiial  flags,  stacked  arms  and  parked  field-pieces,  makes  the 
graduating  ball  a  brilliant  spectacle. 

With  the  end  of  "June  Week"  our  plebes  are  now  members  of 
the  third  class,  or,  as  the  brigade  terms  it,  "youngsters."  Only  a 
scant  month  of  each  vear  since  the  day  of  that  oatli  of  allegiance  to 


SIC 


TlIK  MARVEL  I'.OOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


the  Governmont  have  they  left  the  boundaries  of  Annapolis.  Up  from 
Annapolis  in  a  special  train  they  have  journeyed  with  the  rest  of  the 
brigade  to  cheer  the  eleven  on  in  its  annual  battle  with  West  Point. 
If  you  have  never  seen  the  brigade  tile  into  the  Polo  Grounds  with 
the  Naval  Academy  band  playing  the  Navy's  favorite,  "Nancy  Lee," 
you  can  hardly  imagine  how  the  blue-overcoated  and  white-gloved 


MIUSIIIP.MEX  PASSING  THROUGH  PANAMA  CANAL 


midshipmen  have  looked  forward  to  this  great  bieak  in  tlie  yearly 
routine. 

On  through  the  rest  of  tlie  four-year  course  the  midshiijmen  are 
never  out  of  some  military  formation  during  working  hours  excej^t 
when  they  are  actually  in  their  quarters.  They  are  mustered  and 
mai-ched  to  and  from  recitations  and  lectures,  drills,  and  meals.  All 
day  long  companies  and  divisions  are  falling  in  and  being  dismissed 
on  their  return.  Bugle  calls  wake  the  echoes  of  the  ^Vcademy  Grounds 
from  reveille  at  six  mitil  taps  at  ten. 

The  subjects  change  constantly  as  time  passes.  Tliere  are  sea- 
manshi)),  ordnance,  navigation,  engineering,  mathematics,  physics, 
chemistry,  electricity,  French  and  Spanish,  drawing,  and  law  to  be 


TIIP]  UNITF:L)  states  naval  academy  317 

mastered.  Miicli  of  the  \\x)ik  is  jiractical  and  on  the  cruises  the  mid- 
dies do  tlie  duties  of  every  grade  of  the  seamen  and  engineering 
ratings.  The  last  year  is  mainly  of  a  professional  character,  for 
the  first-year  men  are  approaching  the  time  when  they  must  take  up 
the  duties  of  officers  on  a  modern  man-o'-war. 

From  the  first-class  ranks  are  chosen  the  midshipmen  officers 
of  the  brigade,  a  very  practical  way  of  learning-  the  habit  of  com- 
mand. The  brigade  is  a  formidable  one  to  handle,  organized  into 
three  or  four  full-strength  battalions.  In  the  old  days  the  purely 
military  drills  were  very  unpopular  with  the  midshipmen,  but  the 
modern  naval  officer  must  be  expert  in  artillery  and  infantry  maneu- 
vers as  well  as  his  cadet  brother  at  West  Point.  In  recent  years  the 
middies  have  suffered  little  in  comparison  with  the  gray-jacketed 
battalion  from  West  Point  when  the  sister  academies  have  appeared 
together  in  puljlic. 

The  organization  under  which  the  work  of  converting  boys  in 
their  teens  into  full-fledged  naval  officers  is  similar  to  the  West  Point 
method.  At  the  head  of  the  Naval  Academy  is  the  Superintendent, 
holding  the  rank  of  Captain  or  Eear-Admiral.  Next  comes  the  Com- 
mandant, and  then  the  heads  of  the  various  departments  with  their 
assistants.  The  majority  of  the  instructors  are  naval  officers,  while 
in  the  departments  where  modern  languages,  English,  and  law  are 
taught  there  are  many  college  graduates  as  instructors.  The  Depart- 
ment of  Discipline  is  perhaps  the  most  important  in  the  eyes  of  the 
brigade.  This  department  takes  charge  of  the  conduct  of  midship- 
men and  makes  careful  note  of  the  efficiency  of  any  middy  placed  in 
a  position  of  authority  or  responsibility.  Demerits  awarded  for  the 
In-eaking  of  any  Naval  Academy  regulation  not  only  bar  the  gates 
for  him  on  holidays  but  lower  his  standing  in  his  class.  ^lany  of  the 
escapades  looked  upon  lightly  at  college  have  more  serious  results 
here,  and  any  midshipman  guilty  of  hazing  is  sure  of  dismissal.  Each 
offense  has  its  particular  punishment  under  the  code  that  is  iron- 
bound. 

When  the  fourth  "June  Week"  arrives  the  first-class  men  are 
allowed  many  privileges,  which  are  all  the  more  ai^preciated  because 
of  the  inflexible  routine  that  has  surrounded  them  for  four  years. 
They  have  had  a  month's  furlough  following  each  practice  cruise. 
These  furloughs  and  the  trips  to  the  Army-Navy  football  game  each 
fall  are  the  only  gaps  in  the  long  training.  They  are  ready  to  break 
ranks  for  the  last  time  and  report  after  the  graduation  furlough  to 
their  ships  as  ensigns.    ^Fany  go  to  the  P)attleshii)  Fleet  in  the  Atlan- 


31S  TIIK  :\IARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMHKICAX  SHIPS 

tic  and  others  to  the  Cruiser  Squadron  of  the  Pacific.  Otliers  have 
orders  to  report  to  a  cruiser  oi-  gunboat  on  the  Asiatic  Station  and 
some  to  either  the  submarine  or  desti'oyer  forces.  It  may  be  years 
before  room-mates  meet,  but  tlien  it  will  bo  in  uniform  in  some  port 
of  the  Seven  Seas. 

The  Naval  Academy  deserves  well  of  the  American  people.  It 
has  never  failed  to  give  to  the  nation  its  quota  of  keen,  intelligent, 
well-disci])lined  junior  naval  officers.  They  not  only  have  served  their 
country  with  distinction  in  every  naval  fight  in  our  history,  but  in 
the  Far  East,  in  the  unsettled  countries  that  border  on  the  Caribbean, 
and  in  every  other  corner  of  the  world,  they  have  settled  diplomatic 
problems  with  a  skill  and  firmness  that  often  have  averted  war. 


I'holo  hu  Paul  Tho 


THE  FAVORITE  SPORT  IS  BOAT  RACING 


XXVII 


ATHLETICS    IN    THE    FLEET 


IT  would  seem  to  a  landsman  that  the  Fleet,  with  its  monster 
ships  of  the  line,  its  swift  dcstroj^ers,  grim  submarines,  trim  cruis- 
ers, and  its  thousands  of  bluejackets  and  marines  keyed  up  to 
instant  readiness  for  battle,  would  have  little  time  or  encouragement 
for  frivolous  athletics.  But  athletics  play  a  big  and  useful  part  in  the 
Fleet's  routine  and  nothing  adds  more  to  the  contentment  and  effi- 
ciency of  the  Navy.  Not  only  do  its  officers — from  the  Admiral,  his 
sleeve  heavy  with  gold  lace,  down  to  the  ensign  just  out  of  Annap- 
olis, with  one  slim  stripe  on  his  sleeve — stamp  athletics  with  whole- 
souled  approval,  but  so  does  the  Government  by  official  action. 

Uncle  Sam  knows  its  value  and  appropriates  thousands  yearly 
to  buy  uniforms  and  athletic  supplies  that  a  university  would  be 
proud  to  own,  gives  trophies  and  pennants  to  the  winning  teams,  and 
arranges  an  all-year-round  schedule  for  ships  and  men  to  follow. 

It  was  the  Duke  of  AVellington  who  said  tliat  the  battles  of  Eng- 

319 


320 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


land  were  won  on  the  athletic  fields  of  Eton.  The  American  naval 
officer  of  to-day  will  tell  you  that  due  credit  will  go  to  the  athletics  in 
the  Fleet  when  our  future  sea  fights  are  won.  The  old  adage  that 
"All  work  and  no  play  makes  .Tack  a  dull  boy"  goes  hand  in  hand  with 
the  knowledge  that  athletic  competitions  develop  the  cool  heau,  the 
strength,  and  the  headlong  coui'age  tliat  modern  naval  battles  demand 
of  the  man-o'-war's-man. 

The  Navy's  policy  is  not  to  develop  a  few  brilliant  champions, 
but  to  encourage  every  man  in  uniform  to  put  on  the  cleated  shoe  or 
the  track  jersey.  There  is  hardly  a  form  of  sport  that  is  not  included 
in  the  Fleet's  busy  year.  With  this  variety  and  the  ship  rivalry,  inter- 
est in  athletics  never  flags  from  January  to  December.  "When  it  is 
recalled  that  every  officer  and  man  has  had  to  pass  a  rigid  physical 
examination  to  enter  the  Navy,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  Fleet  has 
material  for  its  teams  that  any  college  coach  would  envy.  Many  of 
the  officers  have  distinguished  themselves  as  star  athletes  at  Annap- 
olis and  in  them  the  Fleet  has  a  corps  of  coaches.  In  competitions 
one  officer  is  allowed  to  play  on  each  team  with  the  exception  of  the 
track  team.     Others  help  in  training  the  teams,  and  on  the  athletic 


1 

li 

^■I^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHH^HL-  ^^^^ 

.ajiy^pB 

^^^^^Kfc,7      ,  .„_ ,.-„;„;, ,  ^■,  r  .11 

m;^^mmmS^^M 

Pholo  by  Paul  Th.mpson.  X.  Y. 


H.\LF  .\N  HOUR  AFTER  ANCHORING 


ATHLETICS  IN  THK  FLEET 


321 


field  the  bulkhead  of  rank  between  officer  and  man  is  forgotten  and  no 
service  in  the  world  is  so  democratic.  The  crews,  too,  are  in  training- 
all  the  year  round  with  their  daily  routine  of  drills  and  physical  exer- 
cises, regular  hours,  wholesome  food,  clean  habits,  and  life  in  the  open. 
The  recruit,  before  he  is  judged  fit  to  wear  the  ship  ribbon  of 
a  man-of-war,  has  to  pass  through  a  stiff  course  of  physical  exercises 
at  the  training  station  to  which  he  is  first  ordered.     Here  lie  has  his 


r.23t.'. 


W»ji>Ti<"tr_' 


-  jiQS^^^ff^ 


imtififii^ik 


START  OF  A  WHALEBOAT  Ti  \i  K 


teams  and  outside  matches,  and  the  stations  are  to  the  Fleet  as  the 
preparatory  schools  are  to  the  colleges  in  supplying  fine  material. 
When  he  conies  up  the  gangway  of  his  first  ship  with  sea-bag  and 
hammock  he  finds  chance  for  distinction  in  a  greater  field.  Every 
battleship  or  cruiser,  and  every  destroyer  squadron,  has  its  complete 
organization.  The  Captain  appoints  an  Athletic  Officer  who  has  gen- 
eral charge  of  all  teams.  He  also  selects  other  officers,  who  have  direct 
control  of  either  football,  baseball,  boat-racing,  track  and  swimming, 
basketball,  boxing,  and  wrestling  or  gymnastics. 

The  athletic  season  opens  with  the  Summer  Drill  Period  when 
the  Fleet  unites  at  a  northern  port.  One  week  of  this  period,  in  which 
the    Fleet    fights    an    imaginary     invader    and    carries    out    drills 


322 


THE  .MARN'EL  BOOK  oF  AMKRICAN  SHIPS 


(lay  and  n  i  g  h  t,  is 
k  11  o  w  11  as  Athletic 
Week.  War  is  forgot- 
ten and  all  drills  and 
work  are  practically 
suspended.  Athletics 
h  a  V  e  the  " "  right  of 
way,"    as    tlie    sailor- 

IIK'U    put    it. 

The  sailing  a  n  d 
rowing  regattas  fill  out 
the  greater  part  of  the 
Athletic  Week.  Of 
all  the  sports  that 
Hre  the  Fleet  with 
enthusiasm  n  o  n  e 
nutranks  that  of 
tlie  pulling  races. 
IJaces  rowed  two 
or  three  score 
years  ago,  when 
American  cutters 
and  whaleboats 
showed  their  heels 
to  the  pick  of  for- 
eign navies,  still 
live  in  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  Navy 
and  are  told  on  the 
forecastles  and  in 
Ihe  wardrooms.  It 
is  the  favorite  test 
ill  which  Yankee 
tars  meet  their  in- 
lernational  rivals. 

At  times,  such 
as  t  h  e  i^>raziliaii 
K  e  b  ('  1  1  i  o  n  of 
1S93,  and  in.  1914 
dui'ing  tlie  ^[exicaii  Insurrection,  men-of-war  of  all  nationalities  are 
assenihled  in  the  harbor.     On  such  occasions  the  unsettled  conditions 


Courtesy  oj  "Flert  Iterieii" 

THE  WINNINO   BOAI 


CARRIES  A    BROOM   IN   THE   BOW 


'^??^ 


e  q  t  r  f  f 


t   <; 


-.j'Sti^^s^^ 


Conrtesy  nj  "Our  Savy" 


THE  WINNING  BOATS  CREW 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  FLEET 


323 


AKTER  TlIK  STARTI.VG  GUN 


of  the  country  fre- 
quently prevent  the 
usual  granting  of 
shore  leave.  Ships 
of  all  the  nations 
then  resort  to  in- 
ternational con- 
tests in  r  0  w  i  n  g, 
sailing,  boxing, 
etc.,  the  competi- 
tion in  the  various 
regattas  anil  con- 
tests being  most 
spirited.  The  in- 
dulging   in    such 

athletic  contests  not  only  inspire  patriotism,  and  pride  in  our  own 
country's  flag,  but  promotes  good  international  feeling  among  the  rep- 
resentatives   of   the    rival 
countries  participating. 

Rowing  is  the  natural 
sport  of  sailormen.  Base- 
ball may  number  more  fol- 
lowers, and  football  is  ten- 
derly regarded  by  the  Fleet ; 
but  when  the  crack  crews 
line  up  for  the  starting-gun, 
baseball  and  football  are 
forgotten  idols.  The  decks 
are  white  with  the  massed 
ship  companies,  and  when 
the  winning  crew  sweeps 
across  the  finishing-line  its 
sliip  cuts  loose  with  wild 
cheers,  with  booming  whis- 
tles, and  up  to  masthead 
swings  a  broom,  the  emblem 
of  sweeping  the  seas  of  all 
rivals. 

The  Navy  racing  cutter 
^,    „  .   „  is  a  far  different  craft  from 

Courlesu  of  "Fleil  Renew" 

WHISTLING  FOR  A  BREEZE  the   sleiidcr   raciug   shell  of 


'A 

^    ■ 

i!H 

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a' 

^jr^  \^m 

i  ^ 

^^"^            J 

^>^     u.      i     ^ 

C^ 

1 

// 

<< 

'"( 

^^^^ 

5 

^S|.-ft 

^^'ir ' -' 

1 

( 

Kb'  "  V  ' 

'^ 

i 

l>i?i' 

"^ff 

M|  f 

'- 

Si 

m 

1 

r 

^ 

^^K'fV^LJS^n 

1 

^^^^^^^^B<VT                     '       "Vni^^^^    ^^H^^B 

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9 

H 

^^^^^f    ' '^ '^^^'i^lP^^A. 

1 

^^B'  1'  .'>44i^'^c^^dHik 

324 


Courtesy  o/ ■•(Jul   A 


A  TUG-OF-WAR  AT  VERA  CRUZ 


CuurU>:yof"Fl„l  R,,ieu" 

BASEBALL  AT  GUANTANAMO    WITH    SMALL  ARM   TARGET-BUTTS   IN   BACKGROUND 

325 


.32fi 


TIIK  ^rAKVP]L  BOOK  OF  AMKKTCAX  SHIPS 


the  colleges.  It  is  used  only  for  races,  scorning  the  heavy  work  of  tho 
regular  cutters,  and  is  built  to  give  its  picked  crew  a  boat  both  light 
and  fast  and  yet  staunch  enough  for  rough  and  choppy  seas.  It  is 
manned  by  twelve  men  and  a  coxswain  instead  of  the  eight  of  the  'var- 
sity crew,  and  the  coxswain  urges  on  his  huskies  standing  in  the  stern 
sheets  and  steering  with  a  tiller  where  his  college  rival  sits  and  steers 

with  tiller  ropes. 
Officers  who  have 
pulled  an  oar  in  an 
Annapolis  shell 
against  leading 
college  crews  work 
wonders  with  the 
racing  cutter  and 
its  twelve  giants. 
In  the  old  d  a  y  s 
rival  crews  laslied 
the  heavy  slice 
bars  of  the  stokers 
u  n  d  e  r  a  rival's 
keel,  but  in  racing 
to-day,  as  in  all 
other  sports,  the  American  tar  follows  the  latest  rules,  and  the  Xavy's 
motto  is:    "May  the  best  man  win!" 

The  Docking  and  Overhaul  Period  is  the  truly  nautical  name  for 
the  midstretch  of  the  year's  athletics,  coming  in  the  fall  when  the 
ships  scatter  to  their  home  ports  and  navy-yards.  Football  and  bas- 
ketball now  claim  their  share  of  the  glory.  At  each  yard  the  elevens 
meet  in  an  elimination  series  and  the  winners  later  decide  the  football 
cliamjtionship.  Under  the  captaincy  or  coaching  of  an  officer  who  has 
won  the  yellow  N  in  the  famous  "West  Point-Annapolis  games,  the 
teams  play  a  game  that  would  bo  a  credit  to  the  minor  college  elevens. 
Gridirons  hard  as  the  decks  of  their  battleships  have  no  terror  for 
tlie  sinew  and  bone  bred  in  the  Navy.  Tackles  that  would  disable 
an  oixlinary  football  star  leave  no  wrecks  in  their  wake  when  the 
final  elevens  meet. 

With  the  bands  playing,  the  rival  yells  crashing  out  at  every 
good  play,  and  the  goat,  bear,  or  mule  mascots  straining  at  their 
leashes  on  the  sidelines,  no  game  could  be  more  colorful.  The  win- 
ning eleven  leaves  the  field  the  heroes  of  the  great  Fleet  and  its  ship 
carries  the  Navy  Department's  tiophy  for  a  year. 


WRESTLING  IN  THE  NAVY 


SWIMMING  CALL 


Courtesy  of  **Flcct  tie. 


A  BATTLESHIP  S  TRACK  TEAM 


328 


TllK  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMKRICAX  SIIIl'S 


Then  the  basketball  teams  have  their  innings  and  each  man  on 
the  championship  five  wears  a  gold  basketball  as  a  souvenir. 

AVhen  the  Fleet  steams  South  out  of  the  sleet  and  drizzle  of  the 
navy-yards  for  the  blue  waters  and  flying  fishes  of  the  Caribbean,  it 
has  the  racing  cutter,  baseball,  swimming,  boxing  and  wrestling  and 

rifie  championships  to  look 
forward  to.  This  cruise, 
known  as  the  Winter  Drill 
Period,  lasts  three  months 
and  is  usually  based  on  the 
naval  station  at  Guanta- 
namo,  a  few  miles  eastward 
from  Santiago,  Cuba,  where 
the  hulks  of  Cervei'a's  fleet 
still  lie.  Its  magnificent 
harbor  and  great  sandy 
beaches  make  it  an  ideal 
field  for  the  Athletic  Week 
that  eclipses  that  of  the 
summer.  When  the  teams 
and  recreation  parties  "hit 
the  beach"  in  this  Cuban 
paradise  you  may  have  your 
choice  of  a  dozen  baseball 
matches,  basketball,  golf, 
tennis,  trap-shooting,  rifle 
and  revolver  contests,  swim- 
ming, rowing  and  sailing 
races.  The  baseball  teams 
play  out  their  schedule,  and 
the  crack  swimmers  cleave 
the  blue  of  the  bay  for  their 
gold,  silver,  and  bronze 
medals.  On  the  forecastles  the  boxers  and  wrestlers  battle  for  the 
gold  challenge  belts  in  bouts  that  fan  the  rivalry  to  white  heat. 

The  week  ends  with  the  racing  cutter  crews  pulling  out  every 
ounce  of  strength  for  the  famous  Battenbei'g  Cup.  The  British  tars 
of  the  Cruiser  Squadron,  commanded  by  Rear- Admiral  H.  S.  H.  Prince 
Louis  of  Battenberg,  presented  this  cup  to  the  enlisted  men  of  the 
United  States  Atlantic  Fleet  in  1906,  "in  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
many  kindnesses,  tokens  of  good  fellowship,  and  wonderful  entertain- 


Courteity  of  "Fleet  Review" 

BRITISH-AMERICAN  CHALLENGE  TROPHY  PRE- 
SENTED BY  ADMIRAL  PRINCE  LOUIS  OF 
BATTENBURG 


ATHLETICS  IN  THE  FLEET  329 

iiionts  that  were  given  us  in  cordial  fiiendship  by  our  ccimrades  across 
the  sea,"  after  the  visit  of  that  Squadron  in  American  waters. 

One  condition  of  the  gift  is  that  a  British  sliip  present  at  the 
time  the  Cup  is  raced  for  sliall  be  aUowed  to  compete.  Only  once  has 
a  British  crew  won  this  blue  ribbon  match. 

To  win  the  star  events  of  the  year's  matches  is  not  the  prime 
idea  of  the  Fleet.  Greatest  of  all  the  trophies,  overshadowing  the 
baseball  or  football  championships  and  the  Battenberg  race,  is  the 
trojihy  for  General  Excellence  in  Athletics.  This  is  awarded  to  the 
ship  showing  the  highest  score  in  all  events  that  it  was  possible  to 
enter,  and  is  a  great  incentive  for  all  men  in  the  Navy  to  take  up 
some  form  of  athletics  for  the  honor  of  the  ship.  Only  the  big  red 
pennant  with  the  black  ball  in  the  center  that  the  crack  gunnery  ship 
flies  at  masthead  "rates"  this  hard-won  honor. 


Copyrii/hl,  E.  Mfdhr.  J,  ,  A'.  J'. 


THE  GOAT  IS  THE  NAVY  S  BEST  PET 


XXVIII 


SAILOEMEX    AXD     THEIR     PETS 


THE  love  of  sailoi-mon  for  pets  is  proverbial.  Few  ships  put  to 
sea  without  one  or  more  pets  aboard;  and  as  the  man-o '-war's 
crew  is  the  largest,  here  we  find  the  greatest  and  most  inter- 
esting variety.  The  life  of  them  within  the  steel  walls  of  an  Amer- 
ican warship  is  an  enviable  one.  They  never  lack  an  audience  and 
are  in  constant  danger  of  being  overfed  and  pampered,  from  the  Cap- 
tain down  to  the  ship's  bugler.  The  "liajipy  hour"  tinds  a  knot  of 
bluejackets  and  marines  always  ringed  about  them,  laughing  at  their 
comical  antics  and  putting  tliem  through  tricks  that  would  do  credit 
to  the  performing  animals  of  a  traveling  circus.  The  ship  without  a 
pet,  or  one  that  has  just  gone  into  commission  without  one  on  board, 
is  not  a  happy  ship  until  a  bluejacket  leads  a  whiskered  goat,  a  curly- 
tailed  pig,  a  mischievous  monkey,  or  a  frolicsome  pup  up  the  gangway. 

330 


SAILORMEN  AND  THEIR  PETS 


331 


There  is  no 
limit  to  the  range 
of  pets  that  are  tlie 
mascots  of  a  tight- 
iiig  ship.  Goats  of 
all  colors  and  de- 
grees, dogs  of 
every  breed,  mon- 
keys from  the  jun- 
gles of  tropical 
lands,  inqnisitive- 
nosed  raccoons, 
bright  -  plumaged 
parrots,  and  the 
always  popular 
bear  lead  in  favor. 
Yet  it  would  be 
hard  to  think  of 
any  four-legged 
beast  or  anj^  bird 
that  would  not  find 
a  royal  welcome. 
The  ship  that  can 
claim  an  unusual 
pet  is  the  envy  of 
the  Fleet. 

Such  a  pet 
was  Cronje  of  the 
cruiser  Atlanta 
when  she  was  sta- 
tioned on  the  South 
Atlantic  Station. 
It  was  at  the  time 
of  the  Boer  War, 
in  which  General 
Cronje  was  a  lead- 
ing Boer  general. 
So,  when  a  Brazil- 
ian wild  boar,  or 
peccary,  was  added 
to  the  complement 


CopijrigU  by  H.  G.  Miser,  fnmi   Underwood  &   Underwood,  N^  Y. 

"skipper"  is  the  champion  long  distance  sleeper  of 
the  fleet 


rU„yol-Our  Xnv.j" 
"URSA,' 


THE  BEAR  CUB  OF  THE   TEXAS 


THK  MARVRF.  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Pholo  by  Paul  Thompson.  . 
THE  ''uTAH's 


PRIDE  VISITS  THE  POLO  GROUNDS 


of  tlie  Jlldnhi,  he 
was  p  r  (>  111  ])  t  1  y 
cliristoncd  Croiije. 
C  r  o  II  j  e  adapted 
himself  to  ship- 
lioard  life  as 
though  he  had  al- 
ways been  a  sailor 
instead  of  a  den- 
izen of  a  South 
American  .iuni;le. 

If     li  y     a  n  y 
chance    a    member 
of   the   \nix   family 
could    be    called 
good-looking,    then 
C  r  o  n  j  e    was    a 
handsome  pig.   His 
nose    fairly    quiv- 
ered with  the  joy 
of  life  at  sea,  his  feet  were  daintily  formed,  and  his  coat  was  sleek  from 
the  care  it  received  daily.     Cronje  loved  to  poke  his  nose,  which  was 
shaped,  of  course,  somewhat  like  a  pansy,  into  everything.     But  most 

of    all    he    1 0  o  k  

pleasure  in  stick- 
ing it  into  a  can  of 
the  brick-red  paste 
used  to  clean  the 
brasses  on  board 
the  cruiser.  The 
crew  firmly  be- 
lieved that  Cronje 
had  been  the  lieau 
of  his  jungle,  and 
thought  it  was  \ng 
rouge. 

At  other  times 
his  savage  in- 
stincts came  to  the 
front,  and  when  he 
was  angry  his  jaws 


HULL  AXD  BRINDLE 


SATT.OTniEX  AND  THEIR  PETS 


would  snap  like  a 
steol  traj).  Then 
the  men,  in  t  li  e 
language  of  t  h  o 
sea,  "gave  liini  a 
wide  berth."  lie 
took  a  decided  dis- 
like to  the  youHLV 
bugler,  who  most 
likely  ha<l  annoyed 
or  struck  him  at 
some  time.  When- 
ever the  lad  came 
n  e  a  r,  Cronje's 
jaws  would  snap 
with  such  force 
that  you  could  hear 
it  plainly  all  over 
that  part  of  the 
ship. 

Cronje's  great- 
est delight  was  to 
fall  in  with  t  h  e 
ship's  goat  in  the 
rear  of  the  divi- 
sion stationed  on 
t  h  e  quarterdeck 
after  the  morning 
physical  drill  for 
the  double  t  i  m  e 
around  the  deck. 
They  would  follow 
the  column,  romp- 
ing like  boys  jiast 
out  of  school,  the 
goat  rising  on  his 
hind  legs  now  and 
then  to  twist  his 
head  and  try  to 
butt  Cronje.  The 
little  fellow  would 


/      ^ 

f         SL:r.       . 

I 

\ 

^ 

L 

ff   • 

w 

1 

rtcsuoflh.r  \„n/' 

THE  HAPPY  LITTLE  GOAT  OF  THE  "t'OLUMBL\' 


Cpuniiht,  E^  Mull. 


A  DREADNOUGHT  S  MASCOT 


THE  marvp:l  book  of  aaiertcan  ships 


MAKING  A   MKAI.  OI'K    I'lIK   I'A  l{(  lOLI  \(  i   OF  A  HAWSER 


dodge    a  ii  d    snap 
his   jaws    in    i)lay. 
His    dainty    feet 
were  not  made  for 
teak  docks,  and  in 
taking-  the  tnrns  he 
w  o  n  1  d     liave     to 
bring  all  four  feet 
together  and  slide. 
Tlie    deck    was    so 
small    that    he    in- 
varial)ly       fetched 
u])    in    the    water- 
ways that  run  like 
a     gutter     around 
the    deck 's    e  d  g  e, 
and    then   he   w  o  u  1  d 
stumble  and  fall  in  a 
heap,  only  the  lifelines 
saving  him  from  going 
overboard.     This  was 
great  fun  for   Cronje 
as  well  as  for  the  crew, 
and,    scrambling   back 
to   his   feet,   he   would 
lun   all   the   faster. 
Without    warning,    he 
would  dash  out  of  the 
cohnnn   and   c  h  a  r  g  o 
tlircmgh  tlic  door  into 
the  crew's  living  quar- 
ters a  u  d  s  t  r  a  i  gh  t 
.-iliead  like  a  Imllct,  un- 
til   something   stojtped 
liim. 

Ci'onje,  a  f  t  e  r  a 
tour   of   South    Amer- 
ica  and  the  West   In- 
dies, ended  his  gay  life 
at  the  Mardi  (Iras  festival  in  New  Orleans. 

There  was  never  a  pig  aboard  shi])  that  was  not  called  Dennis, 


rUK    lAMIO   Hi)Al{  OF    TIIK       AI'I.AM'A 


S.MI.OTniKX  AND  THEIR  PETS 


335 


TWO  FORECASTLE  PETS 


and  few  that  did 
not  learn  to  chew 
tobacco  and  drink 
strong  hot  cot^^ec. 
It  was  an  ancient 
belief  among  Chi- 
nese sailors  that 
the  outline  of  a  pig 
tattooed  in  bine  ou 
the  instep  was  ;i 
safe  charm  against 
drowning.  Sailor- 
men  of  all  nations 
share  this  belief 
more  or  less,  and 
many  carry  the  lit- 
tle blue  pig  on  the 
instep  of  one  foot. 
At  all  events  pigs 
ai-e  in  high  favor  at  sea.  The  crew  keeps  them  immaculately 
clean  and  they  learn  many  curious  tricks.  A  famous  Dennis  made 
his  home  on  the  gunlioat  Yorktou-n  when  Fighting  Bob  Evans,  then 
a  Commander,  took  her  around  the  Horn  in  1891.  At  Bahia,  Brazil, 
black  Dennis  was  reported  as  missing.  It  was  apparent  that  he 
had  fallen  overboard  through  one  of  the  ports,  to  make  a  tasty  meal 

for  a  shark,  and 
the  g-unboat  w  a  s 
plunged  i  n  t  o 
mourning.  Five 
days  out  fro  m 
Bahia  the  orderly 
awakened  Com- 
mander Evans  to 
report  that  Dennis 
had  been  found. 
"And  who  in  the 
name  of  Neptune 
is  Dennis  ?"  he  de- 
manded, for  it  was 
two  o'clock  in  the 

THE  BABY  CAMEL  MASCOT  OF  THE  MARINES  AT  PEKING  momiug.         So      the 


336 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OE  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Courlcsi/  of'Flret  ffenVu'" 

MONKEYING  WITH  THE  GUN 

nuiviiiu'.     This,  in  inky  darkiK'ss,  was  t( 
the  firorooni,   dropping  his   shovel   and 
after  him. 

They  h  a  d 
found  Dennis, 
black  as  the  coal  it- 
self, weak  and  thin 
and  nearly  dead. 
He  had  fallen  into 
a  coal  chute  while 
coal  was  being- 
taken  in  and  there 
for  five  day  s. 
packed  in  among 
it,  111'  liad  gone 
witliout  food  and 
drink.  Dennis 
made  a  complete 
recovery,  only  to 
fall  victim  to  his 
appetite  by  eating 
t  0  o   manv    acorns 


orderly  explained 
that  DennLs  was  the 
lost  pig;  that  he  had 
been  found  in  a  coal 
bunker  and  was  very 
weak  and  ill.  The 
Captain  got  into  uni- 
form and  on  deck 
found  Dennis  in  the 
arms  of  t  h  e  ship's 
cook,  drinking  con- 
densed milk  out  of  a 
spoon. 

One  of  the  coal 
passers,  going  into 
the  bunker  to  pass 
out  coal  for  the  fires, 
h  a  d  heard  a  faint 
scpical  and  something 
)0  much  and  he  had  fled  for 
shouting   that   the   devil   was 


ci;\AnA      Lr.\(  HE 

PAPERS 


SAILOEMEN  AND  TilEIR  PETS 


;J37 


when  his  shipmates  took  him  ashore  one  day  for  a  run  on  the  beach. 

Dennis  fared  better  than  Jock,  the  monkey  who  left  the  island  of 
Trinidad  to  make  his  home  on  the  destroyer  Reid.  Like  a  true  mon- 
key, Jock  was  always  up  to  his 
ears  in  mischief.  Of  all  places 
he  liked  to  apply  his  talents 
for  mischief  in  the  forbidden 
quarters  of  the  Captain's  cab- 
in. It  was  useless  to  tie  him 
up,  for  there  was  never  a  knot 
that  he  could  not  untie.  When 
discovered  he  would  scamper 
out  and  up  the  mast  to  safety. 

One  unlucky  day  Jock  up- 
set red  and  black  ink  and  mu- 
cilage on  the  Caiatain's  desk 
and  then,  with  his  sticky  paws, 
mussed  up  the  Captain's  offi- 
cial papers  and  books  and  left 
their  marks  on  the  Captain's 
bunk.  The  steward  spied  him 
at  the  height  of  his  artistic  en- 
deavors and  gave  chase.  Ui> 
the  foremast  flew  Jock  a  n  d 
then,  to  taunt  the  enragcil 
steward,  started  across  from 
the  foremast  to  the  mainmast 
on   the   wireless   aerial   which 

stretched  from  one  masthead  to  the  other.  With  the  crew  watching, 
Jock  showed  his  best  paces  until  he  got  over  the  smokestacks.  It  was  a 
calm  day  and  the  ship  at  anchor,  so  the  smoke  and  gases  from  tlie  stacks 
were  rising  straight  into  the  air.  When  their  blast  struck  into  Jock's 
nostrils  he  was  overcome  by  the  hot  gases.  Losing  his  hold,  he  fell 
right  down  into  one  of  the  stacks  and  was  cremated.  His  tragic  end 
cast  a  gloom  over  the  destroyer's  crew,  with  the  exception  of  the  hard- 
hearted steward,  who  said  it  served  Jock  right. 

Sailormen  have  even  been  known  to  try  to  make  a  pet  of  an  alba- 
tross. It  is  the  worst  disaster  that  a  ship  can  suffer  to  have  one  of 
its  crew  shoot  an  albatross,  as  the  Ancient  Mariner  of  Coleridge's 
Lay  has  made  immortal.  But  at  times  albatross,  weakened  from  long- 
flights,  will  seek  refuge  aboard  a  ship  at  sea.     Masters  of  the  air  and 


IJ)  D()(i  OF  WAR 


338  TlIK  .MAin'EL  I'.OOK  OF  AMF.KJCAN  SHIPS 

making  their  home  at  sea,  as  soon  as  they  light  on  a  ship  they  become 
violently  "seasick"  and  can  only  flomuler  helplessly  about. 

Goats  are  also  great  pets  at  sea,  for  they  enter  into  the  life, 
making  friends,  parading  ashore  with  the  ship's  company,  and  atford- 
ing  never-ending  pleasure  with  their  propensity  for  butting  and  their 
queer  appetites.  Billy,  the  goat  of  the  monitor  Ozark,  shared  pet 
honors  with  a  dog.  Lying  in  the  Panuco  Kiver  off  Tampico,  Mexico, 
the  prevalence  of  malaria,  yellow  fever,  and  dengiie  called  for  the 
taking  of  a  five-grain  capsule  of  quinine  daily  by  each  man  in  the 
crew  at  breakfast,  and  Billy  was  always  on  hand  for  his  quinine 
ration.  Quinine  appealed  to  Billy  until  one  day  he  made  away  with 
a  box  of  one  hundred  capsules.  The  ship's  surgeon  pulled  him  back 
to  life  and  his  ration  was  cut  off,  for  Billy  was  immune  to  fever  after 
that  breakfast  of  five  hundred  grains. 

Some  ship's  goats  have  records  that  rank  with  liilly's  best  per- 
formance, like  the  marines'  goat  on  the  Nevada  who  will  eat  cigarette 
papers,  standing  on  his  hind  legs,  as  fast  as  they  can  be  fed  to  him. 
But  the  most  famous  goat  that  the  marines  knew  was  Spiggotty,  who 
joined  the  marine  battalion  in  the  trenches  at  Guantanamo  in  '98. 
Spiggotty 's  favorite  meal  was  lighted  cigarettes,  which  he  devoured 
greedily.  He  came  to  an  untimely  end  at  the  New  York  Navy  Yard 
years  later  after  eating  a  lot  of  asbestos  and  then  filling  u])  with 
water.  The  combination  was  too  much  even  for  Spiggotty,  but  un- 
feeling persons  held  that  he  knew  his  time  was  near  and  that  ho  had 
eaten  the  asbestos  to  prepare  himself  foi-  his  futui-e  home. 

The  dogs  who  are  attached  to  ships  usually  are  true  to  one  officer 
or  man,  but  mingle  freely  with  officers  and  men  alike.  Sailor,  the  big 
mastiff  of  the  gunboat  Na.s]iville,  was  an  exception.  He  joined  her 
off  the  Seychelle  Islands  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  swimming  up  to  the  port 
gangway.  Sailor  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  of  the  officers 
who  tried  to  make  friends  with  him,  and  kept  forward  with  the  crew, 
a  great  favorite.  Running  through  the  Suez  he  seemed  to  go  frantic 
at  sight  of  the  land  and  ran  u\)  and  down  deck  like  a  wild  dog,  his  eyes 
always  on  the  shores.  At  Palermo,  Sicily,  the  Nashville  was  moored 
otTshore.  Each  night  Sailor  would  leap  ovei-board  and  swim  ashore, 
coming  back  the  next  morning  in  the  mai'ket  boat.  The  sight  of  the 
brown  bear  on  the  Chieaf/o,  lying  nearby,  shared  the  fascination  of 
the  shore  with  Sailor.  He  would  watch  Bruin  by  the  hour  as  the 
cub  lumbered  along  the  Chicago's  deck,  now  and  then  bracing  his 
fore-paws  against  the  barrel  of  a  five-inch  gun  and  swinging  his  head 
in  comical  fashion  from  one  side  to  the  other  of  the  gun  embrasure. 


SAILOEMEN  AND  THEIR  PETS 


339 


It  was  the  same  in  every 
port  for  Sailor;  a  blur  of  brown 
would  shoot  down  the  gangway 
and  jump  into  the  first  boat  that 
came  alongside,  barking  his  joy. 
At  Havana,  after  he  had  been 
transferred  to  the  Dixie  with  his 
master,  Sailor  went  mad  as  the 
Dixie  passed  through  the  narrow 
entrance.  He  had  to  be  held  back 
by  main  force  when  the  carpen- 
ter's gang  began  to  lower  the 
gangway.  In  Havana  he  dragged 
himself  back  aboard  ship  after 
three  days'  of  "rough  liberty," 
but  on  his  next  visit  ashore  Sailor 
elected  to  stay  ashore  and  meas- 
ure his  strength  against  the  dogs 
of  the  Cuban  capital. 

When  the  Dixie,  on  the  same 
cruise,  left  the  Canary  Islands, 
she  took  with  her  a  black  Spanish 
pointer,  Negra,  a  gray  African 
parrot  and  a  "putty  nose"  mon- 
key. General.  All  three  were  fast 
friends.  The  gray  African  par- 
rots are  better  talkers  than  the 
more  showy  Brazilian  birds,  and 
Polly  ended  her  days  in  a  navy- 
yard,  swearing  at  the  house  cat 
in  two  languages. 

The  General  was  passion- 
ately fond  of  eggs,  and  when  a 
joker  passed  one,  just  out  of  hot 
water,  to  him  he  would  roll  it  up 
and  down  the  deck  with  his  paws, 
with  little  cries  and  capers,  until 
it  was  cool.  Then  he  would  crack 
one  end  with  his  teeth  and  drain 
it.  Eaw  eggs  saved  his  life  after 
he  liad  found  and  devoured  a  sup- 


Courtesy  of  "Our  Navy" 

"black  jack' 


OF  THE      FLORIDA 


340  Tlll<]  MAK\'EL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 

ply  of  vaccine  points,  pills,  and  powders  in  the  surgeon's  room.  "When 
the  ship  came  back  into  cold  waters  the  ship's  tailor  fashioned  an  over- 
coat for  him  out  of  an  old  marine's  blouse,  using  the  red  piping  to  orna- 
mental effect,  but  three  days  after  the  Dixie  made  New  York  he  suc- 
cumbed to  pneumonia. 

The  baby  eagle  mascot  of  the  marines  at  Peking,  China,  is  known 
throughout  the  Far  East  for  his  prowess  as  a  Yankee  tighter.  A 
Chinese  fighting  cock  had  finished  off  every  feathei-ed  oi)ponent  in 
the  cockmains  until  the  eagle  was  matched  against  him,  his  feathers 
trimmed  until  he  looked  like  a  strange  variety  of  rooster.  The  Chi- 
nese champion  attacked  him  with  bill  and  spurs,  tearing  out  feathers, 
but  the  eagle,  with  eyes  closed,  made  no  reply  and  looked  to  the  anx- 
ious and  discomfited  marines  like  a  beaten  bird.  The  Chinese  fighter 
swooped  in  to  deliver  the  finishing  blow.  Suddenly  the  eagle  awoke, 
stretched  out  his  talons,  and  caught  the  champion  firmly  about  the 
neck.  With  one  twist  he  tore  its  head  off,  and  the  Chinese  si)ectators 
fled  in  dismay,  to  spread  the  news  through  China  of  the  wonderful 
American  rooster. 

It  is  a  happy  life  the  pets  live  in  the  Fleet.  Cats  and  dogs  seem 
to  forget  their  traditional  enmities.  Goats  and  monkeys  pose  together 
for  their  photographs ;  and  parrots,  on  their  perches,  talk  in  true  deep- 
sea  language  to  the  bear  cubs  and  pigs  as  they  roll  by  on  the  sea  legs 
that  long  cruises  have  given  them.  And  in  the  background  the  happy 
grins  of  the  crew  greet  every  amusing  gambol  of  their  ship's  mascots. 


Courtesy  "J     '  '  ,      \ 

THE   ril'l'lKS  OK   THE    ".\K\V    HAMI'fiHIRE' 


Courtesy  of  "I'leet  Rei 


THE  DESTROYERS  PASS  IN  REVIEW 


XXIX 


CEREMONIES  AND  UNIFORMS 


EXCEPT  for  the  ceremony  that  surrounds  the  court  of  a  foreign 
ruler  there  is  no  other  spot  where  there  is  so  much  picturesque 
and  interesting-  display  of  ceremony  as  on  the  decks  of  a  man- 
o'-war.  All  sailormen,  whether  they  are  on  fighting  ships,  merchant- 
men, ocean  greyhounds  or  private  yachts,  are  sticklers  for  form  and 
custom.  The  man-o'-war  dictates  the  general  form  and  the  others 
follow  with  less  detail,  except  for  the  yachtsman;  so  that,  in  describ- 
ing the  ceremonies  of  the  American  Navy,  a  picture  of  the  ways  of 
the  sea  in  etiquette  and  polite  interchange  of  courtesies  may  be 
shown. 

To  an  outsider  the  length  to  which  the  details  of  the  ceremonies 
are  laid  down  in  the  regulations'of  the  Navy  may  seem  too  elaborate. 
He  looks  upon  it,  in  the  language  of  the  Navy,  as  "red  tape."  There 
are  good  reasons  for  the  disi)lay,  however;  for  at  the  base  of  them 
all  is  the  show  of  respect  for  the  nation's  I'uler,  the  tribute  to  rank, 
and  the  idea  of  courtesy.  These  outward  forms  are  an  aid  to  disci- 
jjline  and  to  the  spread  of  patriotism.  No  officer  or  man  of  the  Navj 
ever  fails  in  his  respect  to  authority  or  allows  the  national  colors  to 
be  carried  past  in  parade  without  doing  honor  to  them.     It  would  be 

341 


A  COMPLIMENTARY  FAREWELL  TO  THE  ADMIRAL 


THE  ADMIRAL  TURNS  OVER  CDMMANI)  OF  THE  FLEEl 


READY  TO  RKCICIVK  THE  PRESIDENT' 


;■/,„(„  l,y   f     Tl„.mi,s„„.  .V     )• 

THE   PRESIDEN  1'   RKVIKWS    rllK    ILKKI',    I'H  K       DKLAWAKe"   SALUTING 

343 


344  THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  A^MERTCAN  SHIPS 

the  height  of  discourtesy  in  the  Fleet  to  interruijt  the  talk  of  another 
ship,  for  instance,  while  she  is  making  a  flag-hoist  signal,  just  as  in 
private  life  it  would  be  impolite  to  interrupt  a  conversation.  The 
strict  routine  of  a  warship  becomes  less  monotonous;  for  the  cere- 
monies that  surround  a  visit  to  a  foreign  port,  the  passing  of  a  war- 
ship at  sea,  the  transfer  of  an  Admiral's  flag,  the  presentation  of  a 
silver  service  by  the  State  whose  name  the  ship  bears,  the  commission- 
ing of  a  now  ship,  the  review  of  the  P^'leet  by  the  President  or  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy,  and  the  passing  of  "Washington's  Tomb  on  the 
Potomac — all  are  made  the  occasions  of  colorful  incidents. 

Greatest  of  all  the  ceremonies  on  board  an  American  man-o'-war 
is  the  visit  of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  When  the  Mayflower 
steams  between  the  lines  of  gray  fighting  machines  with  the  blue  flag 
of  the  President  at  her  main  truck,  and  beneath  the  rainbow  of  colors 
that  loop  from  stem  to  stern  of  every  grim  ship  the  g-uns  boom  their 
salute  of  twenty-one  g"uns,  there  is  no  other  sight  on  the  face  of  the 
waters  that  can  compare  with  it  for  picturesqueness  and  dignity. 

The  President  decides  to  visit  the  Commander-in-Chief  on  his 
flagship.  She  has,  in  anticipation  of  his  coming,  been  full-dressed 
with  a  rainbow  of  flags  reaching  from  the  watevline  forward,  over  the 
mastheads,  to  the  waterline  aft.  As  the  President's  launch  comes 
alongside  the  ladder,  the  shrill  notes  of  the  bosun's  pipe  stir  the 
senses  of  the  flagship's  officers  and  crew  who  have  been  on  the  alert 
for  him  to  appear.  Forward  on  the  jackstaff  is  the  Union  Jack,  with 
its  white  stars  on  the  blue  field.  At  masthead  flies  the  largest  national 
ensign  the  ship  owns.  The  officers  have  assembled  in  special  full  dress, 
with  cocked  hats,  epaulets,  and  swords,  on  the  quarter  deck,  and  near 
them  is  paraded  the  detachment  of  marines  in  full  dress. 

The  Admiral  with  his  staff,  the  Captain  and  other  officers,  receive 
the  President  as  he  steps  on  deck,  and  as  he  passes  through  the  doul)le 
line  of  eight  side-boys  the  silent  shij)  bristles  with  life.  The  officers 
salute  and  tlie  marine  giiard  presents  arms,  while  the  drummer  and 
bugler  of  the  guard  salute  with  four  ruffles  and  flourishes.  .Vt  the 
last  note  of  the  bugle  and  roll  of  the  diami  the  flagship  band  strikes 
into  The  Star-Spangled  Banner,  and  the  blue  flag  of  the  President, 
with  the  coat  of  arms  in  the  center,  is  broken  out  at  the  main  to  fly 
while  he  is  on  board.  Immediately,  as  the  flag  whips  out  to  the  breeze, 
the  national  salute  of  twenty-one  guns  comes,  fired  by  two  saluting 
guns  with  an  interval  of  five  seconds  ticking  off  between  each  gunfire. 
The  other  ships  present  man  their  rails  and  fire  the  national  salute 
with  the  flagsliij). 


CEREMONIES  AND  UNIFOEMS 


345 


Courtesy  of"Scienilfic  American" 


H.  M    S.      DARTMOUTH       IN  FULL  DRESS 


When  the  President  leaves  the  flagship  the  same  ceremonies  are 
repeated,  the  salute  being  fired  when  his  launch  has  cleared  the  ship 
to  a  safe  point,  and  with  the  last  gun  the  President's  flag  is  lowered. 

And  so,  with  a  corresponding  degree  of  honor  the  visits  of  foreign 
rulers,  of  naval,  militar.v,  diplomatic,  and  consular  officers,  is  observed, 
ranging  down  from  the  twenty-one  guns  and  eight  side-boys  of  the 
ruler  to  the  five  guns  for  a  Vice-Consul,  and  to  the  simple  honor  of 
two  side-boys  for  officers  of  junior  rank. 

There  is  a  pretty  bit  of  sentiment  shown  when  the  Admiral  turns 
over  his  command  to  a  successor.  Then  commissioned  officers  form 
the  line  of  eight  side-boys  and  another  "pipes  the  side"  as  he  leaves 
Ihe  ship,  to  be  pulled  away  in  a  barge  manned  by  officers. 

One  of  the  finest  of  all  tributes  paid  by  the  American  Navy  is 
in  its  honor  to  the  memory  of  George  AVashington.  No  naval  ship 
passing  his  Tomb  at  Mount  Vernon  on  the  Potomac  between  sunrise 
and  sunset  fails  in  this  fine  bit  of  sentiment.  As  the  ship  draws 
near  it  parades  its  giiard  and  band  on  the  quartei'deck,  the  shii)'s  bell 


PAG 


TlIK  MARVEL  ROOK  OF  AMKRTCAX  SHIPS 


is  tolled,  and  its  colors  half-masted.  Opposite  the  tomb  taps  are 
sounded,  the  marines  present  arms,  and  officers  and  crew,  stiff  at 
attention,  salute  in  respect  to  the  memory  of  our  first  Commander- 
in-Chief. 

Every  day  the  Navy  salutes  the  national  colors,  both  at  "morn- 
ing colors"  at  eight  o'clock,  and  at  "retreat"  at  sundown.  As  the  flag 
climbs  smartly  up  the  hoist  the  band  plays  The  Star-Spangled  Ban- 
ner. All  officers  and  men  face  the  colors  at  attention,  and  at  the  last 
note  of  the  anthem  salute  with  the  hand.  At  sunset  "colors"  the 
ensign  is  started  slowly  from  the  peak  or  truck  at  the  first  note  of  the 
national  air.  It  was  once  the  custom  to  play  The  Star-Spanqled  Ban- 
ner at  "morning  colors"  and  Hail  Columbia  at  "retreat,"  but  an 
order  of  the  President's  made  The  Sfar-Spangled  Banner  the  official 
anthem. 

The  visit  of  an  American  warship  to  a  foreign  port  begins  witli 
the  thunder  of  her  salute  to  the  country's  ensign  that  is  seen  either 
flying  from  a  fort  on  shore  or  from  a  man-o'-war  lying  in  the  harbor. 
At  the  main  is  shown  the  flag  of  the  foreign  country,  and  there  it 
flies  until  the  last  of  the  twenty-one  guns  has  been  tired.  Then  come 
the   visits   of  courtesy,   whieli   nnist   be   returned   within    twenty-four 


.M.WM.Nt;    I'HK  U.\ll.  l.N   ,\   Ft.)  ii  l;  U  I  .\    l'(.)KT 


CEEEMONIES  AND  UNIFORMS  347 

hours;  and  if  foreign  nion-o'-war  are  at  anchor  a  hoarding  party  of 
commissioned  otificers  leaves  the  ship  to  pay  less  informal  calls. 

At  times  honors  have  not  been  properly  paid,  or  promptly  returned, 
and  relations  are  strained  until  the  incident  is  cleared  up;  for  care- 
lessness in  this  deepsea  etiquette  is  a  slight  to  the  flag  of  a  country 
rather  than  to  any  individual  or  ship. 

When  ships  of  different  countries  pass  at  sea  they  exchange  the 
salute,  gun  for  gun,  showing  the  flag  saluted  at  the  fore.  If  the  ships 
pass  close  by  the  national  airs  are  played  by  the  bands.  No  naval 
ship  lowers  her  sails  or  dips  her  colors  except  in  return  for  such  com- 
pliment. In  parading  on  shore  the  Navy  dips  the  national  ensign 
onlj^  when  passing  in  review  before  the  President  or  the  ruler  of  a 
foreign  nation.  No  American  warship  salutes  any  American  city  or 
fort.  At  night,  when  the  ships  are  bare  of  bunting,  strings  of  electric 
lights  silhouette  liei'  from  stern  to  stern,  and  from  deck  to  masthead, 
and  the  searchlights  play  on  the  waters. 

On  holidays  the  Fleet,  when  not  under  way,  is  as  gayly  decked 
with  bunting  as  any  city's  streets.  Full  dress,  the  Navy  calls  it,  and 
at  eight  o'clock  the  rainbows  of  flags  break  out  and  are  not  lowered 
until  the  sun  sets.  On  Washington's  Birthday  and  the  Fourth  of 
July  the  national  salute  is  fired  at  noon,  and  on  Decoration  Day  minute 
guns  are  used.  All  unnecessary  drills  and  work  are  suspended  for  the 
day  and  the  holiday  is  fittingly  celebrated.  At  sea  when  the  salute  is 
fired  the  national  ensign  is  displayed  at  the  peak. 

An  impressive  ceremony  always  is  that  of  a  burial  at  sea.  The 
ship  is  hove  to  and  the  ensign  half-masted  while  the  chaplain  or  the 
captain  of  the  ship  reads  the  burial  service.  The  foot  of  the  body's 
canvas  covering  is  weighted  with  a  round  shot  and  the  body  is  cov- 
ered with  an  American  flag  and  with  flowers.  As  it  is  committed  to 
the  deep  a  bugler  sounds  "taps"  and  a  squad  of  marines  fires  three 
volleys  as  the  last  mark  of  respect.  If  the  funeral  should  be  held 
on  shore  the  escort  of  marines  and  blue,jackets  march  to  the  solemn 
dirge  of  the  Dearl  March  from  Saul  or  Chopin's  Funeral  March,  but 
when  "taps"  has  sounded  they  swing  back  to  their  ship  to  the  tune 
of  a  lively  quickstep. 

The  Union  Jack,  which  is  flown  from  the  jackstaf¥  in  the  bow  of 
a  vessel  from  morning  to  evening  colors,  is  sometimes  hoisted  at  tlie 
fore  as  the  signal  for  a  pilot,  and  a  gun  fired  to  call  attention  to  it. 
When  it  is  hoisted  at  the  mizzen  or  at  a  yard-arm,  and  a  gam  barks, 
you  may  know  that  a  court-martial  or  a  court  of  inquiry  is  in  session. 

Naturallv  the  greater  the  rank  of  the  Jiaval  officer  in  connnand 


348 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


the  more  ceremonious  is  the  routine  of  a  ship,  squadron,  division,  or 
fleet.  The  flag  carried  at  masthead  of  a  ship  shows  his  rank.  The 
Admiral  flies  a  blue  flag  with  four  stars  of  white.  The  Vice-Admiral's 
and  Rear-Admiral's  flags  are  blue  with  three  stars  for  the  former 
and  two  for  the  latter.  When  two  or  more  flag  officers  of  the  same 
rank  are  present  the  senior  flies  his  blue  flag  while  the  others  hoist 
a  red  flag. 

All  steamers,  whether  liners  or  cargo  carriers,  fly  the  flag  of  the 
nation  to  which  they  belong.  Besides  this  they  also  disjjlay  the  dis- 
tinguishing or  "house  flag"  of  the  line,  and  each  line  has  its  funnels 

painted  wdth  dis- 
tinguishing marks, 
so  that  other  ships, 
and  the  observers 
who  report  incom- 
ing ships  to  the 
port  officials,  may 
know  them.  Great 
Britain,  Germany, 
and  other  naval 
p  o  w  e  r  s  have  a 
man  -  o '  -  war  flag 
and  a  merchant 
flag  that  are  (juite 
different.  The 
United  States  and  France  are  among  those  that  have  but  one  flag  for 
men-o'-war  and  merchant  vessels.  The  American  yachting  ensign, 
however,  is  different,  for  its  thirteen  stars  are  grouped  in  a  circle  about 
a  fouled  anchor. 

The  ceremony  of  announcing  the  time  aboard  ship  by  the  strokes 
of  a  l)ell  is  an  ancient  one.  A  stroke  is  made  on  the  bell  for  every 
half-hour  and  the  number  of  strokes  indicates  the  time.  Beginning 
at  noon,  for  instance,  eight  strokes  are  made  in  four  pairs  of  strokes. 
Noon  is  eight  bells  at  sea.  At  12:30  o'clock  there  is  one  bell.  .\t 
1:30  o'clock,  or  three  bells,  two  strokes  are  given  and  then,  after  a 
slight  pause,  a  third  bell.  So  it  goes  until  eight  l)ells  come  again  at 
4  o'clock. 

From  four  to  six  and  fi'om  six  to  eight  are  the  first  and  second 
dog  watches.  All  other  watches  are  for  four  hours.  A  mutiny  was 
planned  in  the  British  Navj'  at  Spithead  in  the  Nore,  in  1797,  to  take 
place  at  seven  bells  of  the  second  dog  watch.     The  officers,  hearing 


Courtesy  of  "Our  Navy" 
WHEN  A  SHIP  COMES  HOME  FROM  A  FOREIGN  STATION  SHE 
FLIES    A    HOMEWARD    BOUND    PENNANT 


CEKEMONIES  AND  UNIFORMS 


349 


of  the  i)lot,  had  no  bell  struck  at  that  time;  and  the  signal  failing, 
the  mutiny  also  failed.  The  custom  still  holds  good  in  that  service 
only,  because  of  this  curious  fact. 

The  officers  of  the  Navy  are  divided  into  the  line  and  the  staff. 
Their  various  titles  in  order  of  rank,  with  the  corresponding  rank  of 
the  Army  and  Marine  Corps  are : 


NAVY 

Admiral 

Vice- Admiral 

Rear-Adrairal 

Commodore  (title  now  only 

existing  on  retired  list) 
Captain 
Commander 
Lieutenant-Commander 
Lieutenant 

Lieutenant  (junior  grade) 
Ensign 
Midshipman 


ARMY    AND    MARINE    CORPS 

General 

Lieutenant-General 

Major-General 


Colonel 

Lieutenant-Colonel 

Major 

Captain 

First  Lieutenant 

Second  Lieutenant 


CouTUsy  of  '•Fliil  R, 


A  BURIAL  AT  SEA 


THE  "ITAh's"   I'lcill'IXC   \IKN  MAN   TUB  RAIL 


FIELD  MAKSIIAL  JOKFKE  AND  FOKMKlt  PKKMIER  VIVL\NI  RECEn  ED  WITH  KILL  HONORS 
ON  THE  FLAGSHIP  "PENNSYLVANIA" 

■m 


CEREMONIES  AND  UNIFORMS 


351 


Chief  boatswains,  chief  gunners,  chief  machinists,  boatswains, 
gunners,  and  machinists  are  warrant  officers  of  the  line. 

The  staff  officers  of  tlie  Navy  are  surgeons,  paymasters,  chaplains, 
professors  of  mathematics,  naval  constructors,  civil  engineers,  chief 
carpenters,  pharmacists,  chief  pay  clerks,  and  pay  clerks. 

The  enlisted  man  has 
a  title,  or  rate,  which  tells 
the  work  he  does.  For  ex- 
ample there  are  seamen, 
machinists,  electricians, 
hospital  nurses,  quarter- 
masters, a  n  d  signalmen. 
Most  curioiis  of  all  the  rat- 
ings is  that  of  the  Jack- 
of-the-Dust  who  is  a  store- 
keeper for  the  Paymaster. 
The  Navy's  love  for  pic- 
turesque titles  is  clearly 
shown  when  the  enlisted 
man  in  charge  of  a  horse 
at  a  shore  station  is  known 
as  Coxswain-of-the-Horse. 

Petty  officers  of  the 
Navy  are  similar  to  non- 
commissioned officers  in 
the  Army  and  Marine 
Corps.  In  the  Navy,  in- 
stead of  being  called  ser- 
geants and  corporals,  they 
are  designated  as  chief 
petty  officers  and  petty  of- 
ficers, such  as  chief  boat- 
swain's mate  or  boat- 
swain's mate,  first  class. 

All  persons  in  the 
Navy  are  required  to  wear  uniforms  while  on  ship.  There  are  uniforms 
for  ceremonies,  and  for  ordinary  work ;  and  distinctive  marks  and  uni- 
forms indicate  rank  or  ratings.  Officers  have  stripes  of  gold  lace  on 
their  sleeves  to  show  their  rank,  the  number  and  width  of  the  stripes 
increasing  with  the  rank.  A  Captain  is  unofficially  knowni  to  the  Fleet 
as  a  "four-sti'iper"  and  an  ensign  as  a  "one-striper." 


TWO  AMERICAN  ADMIRALS 


352 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Tlie  corps  device  is  a  star  on 
the  sleeve  above  tlie  stripes  for  of- 
ficers of  the  line,  and  colored  cloth 
lietween  the  gold  stripes  for  offi- 
cers of  the  stafif.  For  example, 
white  cloth  for  paymasters,  dark 
red  for  surgeons,  violet  for  naval 
constructors,  blue  for  civil  engi- 
neers, etc.  All  officers  also  wear 
sjiecial  collar  devices  which  indi- 
cate rank  and  eor^s.  The  corps 
devices  are  anchors  for  the  line 
and  oak-leaves  of  different  forms 
fur  officers  of  the  staff.  Rank  is 
shown  on  collar  in  addition  to  the 
corps  device,  also  epaulets  and 
shoulder  marks,  as  follows:  one 
l)ar  for  Lieutenant  (junior  grade), 
two  bars  for  a  Lieutenant,  eagle 
Inr  Captain,  two  stars  for  Rear- 
Admiral,  three  stars  for  a  Vice- 
Admiral  and  four  stars  for  an  Ad- 
miral. 

All  officers   wear  a   sword  at 
ceremonies  and  when  on  military 
duty,  except  in  action,  when  they 
carry  an  automatic  pistol.     Com- 
missioned officers  wear  epaulets  and  chapeaux  on  special  occasions. 

The  enlisted  men  have  the  blue  and  white  uniform  and  the  flat 
sailor's  cap  with  the  name  of  the  ship  on  the  cap  ribbon.  Chief  petty 
officers  wear  a  double-breasted  sack  coat  Avitli  brass  buttons  and  a  cap. 
Rating  badges  and  distinguishing  marks  made  of  cloth  indicate 
the  rating  of  the  petty  officers.  The  rating  marks  have  certain  spe- 
cialty marks  which  are  for  the  purpose  of  showing  their  special  trade 
or  line  of  work.  There  are  a  large  number  of  these  special  marks,  the 
number  of  chevrons  indicating  the  rating.  For  example,  a  second- 
class  boatswain's  mate  has  two  and  a  first-class  boatswain's  mate  three 
chevrons. 

The  three  narrow  white  stripes  on  the  wide  collar  were  first 
worn  by  the  IJritish  Navy,  one  each  in  honor  of  Nelson's  great  sea 
victories.     All  sailormen  now  wear  them.     The  black  neckerchief  is 


THE    CHURCH    FLAG    FLIES    ABOVE    THE 
STARS  AND  STRIPES 


."  '^Jrriircif         R\YJr  Admin// 


III 
III 

LieutenanI  L/eufcnc7n(  Junior     Ensign 


:Jpr    Ml.l^hl[>'rl,^n  l-'CI 


midfhipnwnZ'^CI 


III! 

Ch  Bcalswain  Ch  Carpenter  Boj/sivain  terpen l,!r 

Ch  OtJnner  Ch  6r7ilmoker  Ci^nner  S./i/rna/rr-r 

Ch  fYlachinisf  Ch  ri,,,rmocifl      .         mxhinisl  PhanncJCisf 

mate  Pai/C/erk 


INSIGNIA  OF  RANK  ON  SLEEVE 


353 


1.  Master  at  Arms 

2.  Bontswains'  Mates.  C> 

3.  Quartermasters 

4.  Blacksmiths,  8hip  Fitters 

5.  Sailmakers"  Alatea 

6.  I^rintcrs 


THE  SPECIALTY  MAUKS  SHOW  THE  NATURE  OF  DUTY 

Plumb.' 


7.  Carpenters'    .Mates, 

and  Fitters,  Painters 

S.  Turret  Captains 

9.  Gunners'  Mates 

10.  Storekeepers  {Chief  Yeomen) 

11.  Yeomen 

12.  Eleetricians 

354 


13.  Macliinists'  Afates,  Boiler  ifak- 

crs,    WiitiT    TendiTS.    Cnppcr- 
smiths.  OilLTS  * 

14.  Hospital     Stewards.      Hospital 
.\pprpntice3  (rod  cloth) 

I.i.  Bandmasters.  Musiri.ana 
10.  Commissary  Stewards 


SPECIALTY  MARKS,  CONTINUED — DISTINGUISHING  MARKS — BUTTONS 


17.  Ship  Cooks  and  Bakers 

18.  Bugler 

19.  Seaman  Gunner 

20.  Gun  Captain 

21.  Gun  Pointer 


22.  Gun  Pointer  (First  Class) 

23.  Marksmen  (Merit  Mark) 

24.  Radio  Operator 

25.  Torpedo  Man 

26.  Ex  Apprentice 


355 


vl^     ^^^ 


1.  Ensign 

2.  Medical  Corps 

3.  Paymaster  Corps 

4.  Chaplain 

5.  Prof,  of  Mathematics 


MK'l'AL  CORPS  DEVICES 

6.  Naval  Constructor 

7.  Civil  Engineer 
7i.  Dental  Corps 

R.  Chief  Boatswain 
9.  Chief  Gunner 

356 


10.  Chief  Machinist 

11.  Chief  Carpenter 

12.  Chief  Sailmaker 

13.  Chief  Pharmacist 

14.  Mates 


CEREMONIES  AND  UNIFORMS  357 

.supposed  to  have  been  first  ^vol•ll  as  a  badge  of  nioui'iiing  for  Nelson. 

You  doubtless  ha\-e  wondered  at  the  wide,  flapping  bottoms  of  a 
man-o'-war's-man's  trousers.  They  are  made  wide  so  that  they  can 
be  rolled  above  the  knees  when  decks  are  being  washed  down  with 
water,  and  when  on  boating  expeditions. 

Our  ceremonies  are  fixed  by  law,  but  with  the  growth  of  the  Navy 
its  old  traditions  die  and  new  customs  take  the  place  of  old  ones.  John 
Paul  Jones  not  only  would  feel  sadly  out  of  place  on  a  superdread- 
nought  but  he  would  be  lost  in  wonder  at  the  passing  of  old  customs. 
One  of  the  last  customs  that  passed  from  the  decks  of  the  modern 
navy  was  the  "shooting  of  Charlie  Noble."  Tlie  chimney  or  galley- 
stack  of  the  ship's  kitchen  Avas  dignified  by  the  name  of  Charlie  Noble, 
and  when  the  galley-stack  became  clogged  with  soot  the  ship's  cook 
fired  a  blank  cartridge  np  it,  loosening  the  soot.  The  report  of  the 
pistol  was  the  signal  for  a  shout  of  glee  from  the  crew.  The  innocent 
landsman  was  informed  that  Charlie  Noble  had  been  burdened  with 
so  many  troubles  that  he  had  shot  himself  as  the  only  remedy.  But 
Charlie  Noble  has  been  shot  for  the  last  time. 


THE  "BROOKLYx\"  enters  DKV  DOCK 


XXX 


WHERE  THE  SHIPS  XEST 


CRUISTXG  about  and  at  anclior,  especially  so  in  the  warm  waters 
of  the  tropics,  ships  gather  barnacles  and  other  growths  of  the 
sea  on  their  underwater  bodies.  Then,  in  the  langiiage  of  the 
sea,  a  ship's  bottom  is  foul  and  she  must  go  back  to  her  nest  at  the 
navy-yard  to  be  scraped  and  cleaned.  This  fouling  reduces  a  vessel's 
speed  to  a  surprising  degree,  and  no  ship  can  afford  to  be  left  behind 
in  the  race.  The  difference  of  a  few  knots  would  spell  disaster  in 
battle  to  the  ship  of  war,  or  the  loss  of  money  to  a  liner  and  merchant- 
man. More  coal  must  be  burned  to  drive  a  foul  hull  through  the  water 
at  a  normal  rate;  and  so,  in  spite  of  the  time  lost  in  overhaul,  and  the 
expense  of  docking,  it  is  well  worth  while  tliat  a  ship  should  be  docked 
frequently.  In  the  Xavy  the  men-o'-war  are  docked  at  least  once  a 
j-ear,  and  usually  twice  in  that  period. 

3.')8 


WHERE  THE  SHIPS  NEST  359 

The  docking  of  a  big  ship  is  very  interesting,  for  then  she  is  out 
if  her  natural  element,  the  water,  and  seems  to  take  on  an  entirely 
different  personality.  Stand  alongside  a  dry  dock  and  you  will  wonder 
how  it  is  to  be  flooded  and  receive  its  mistress  in  the  great  empty  nest. 
Across  one  end  the  water  outside  is  barred  by  a  caisson,  which  has  the 
form  of  a  ship,  with  its  pointed  ends,  and  which,  when  emptied  of  the 
water  that  holds  it  fast  in  place  across  the  dock's  end,  floats  like  a 
ship.  Near  the  bottom  of  the  caisson  are  circular  holes  that  are  barred 
from  the  entrance  of  water  by  valves,  and,  when  the  valves  are  opened, 
allow  the  water  to  stream  in  and  flood  the  dock  by  steady  degrees. 

When  the  turn  of  our  barnacle-studded  ship  comes  to  enter  its 
nest,  the  tons  of  water  in  the  caisson  are  pumped  overboard  and  the 
clumsy  aiTair  is  towed  out  of  the  way  to  let  the  tugs  point  our  craft  to 
the  entrance  of  the  dry  dock,  where  the  water  is  now  on  a  level  with 
that  outside  its  walls.  A  line  is  run  from  the  ship  to  the  head  of  the 
(lock  and  she  is  hauled  slowly  in.  Back  comes  the  caisson,  its  valves 
ate  opened,  and  it  sinks  to  rest  across  the  entrance  to  the  dock. 

Before  the  dock  is  emptied  and  the  ship  rests  safely  within  it,  the 
Xaval  Constructor  who  is  in  charge  of  the  dry  dock  has  consulted  her 
docking  plans.  Each  ship  carries  a  docking  plan  that  answers  her 
needs  alone.    It  would  not  be  possible,  for  instance,  to  dock  the  27,000- 


"\ 

>: 

—it 

.   I 

--,  i^.:  -> .  ■-.' 

■•j»^,^^'' 

'M 

^^     ^ 

^^ 

"^^^^^-O"' 

HOW  A  DRY    DOCK  IS  BUILT 


360 


WHERE  TIIK.  SHIPS  NEST 


361 


ton  Neiv  York  and  tlie 
20,000-ton  North  Dakota 
with  the  same  set  of  phins. 
When  the  ship  is  ready 
for  its  turn  at  the  dock  its 
docking  plans  are  turned 
over  to  the  Naval  Con- 
structor, giving  him  all  in- 
formation about  the  shape 
and  size  of  her  under- 
water hull,  her  bilge  keels, 
and  the  rudder  and  pro- 
pellers at  the  s  t  e  r  n. 
Armed  with  this,  and  the 
knowledge  of  her  draft, 
he  places  a  line  of  wooden 
blocks  down  the  center- 
line  of  the  dock's  floor, 
wliich  may  be  of  stone, 
cement,  or  wood.  He  reg- 
ulates the  distance  be- 
tween blocks  by  the 
weight  of  the  bulk  that  is 
to  rest  upon  them.  If  a 
ship  of  the  larger  classes 
she  has  her  docking  keels, 
running  parallel  to  the 
true  keel,  and  these  must 
be  placed  on  a  double  line 
of  keel  blocks.  That  the 
operation  is  one  that  calls 
for  the  utmost  skill  and  experience  is  very  evident. 

With  the  caisson  back  in  place  the  pumps  which  empty  the  dock  are 
started  and  all  care  is  taken  ta  get  the  ship  in  exact  position.  W^hen 
ships  have  no  docking  keels,  spar-like  timbers  called  "shores"  are 
brought  into  play,  one  end  resting  against  the  steel  sides  of  the  ship  and 
tiie  other  against  the  side  of  the  dock.  As  the  water  seeks  lower  levels 
the  ship's  keel  touches  the  line  of  keel  blocks  and  then  the  shores  are 
set  up  tightly  by  wedges  inserted  at  the  proper  time  to  support  her. 
The  dock  is  finally  drained  as  dry  as  a  bone,  and  with  keel  aligned  along 
the  keel  blocks  the  ship  is  as  fii'm  as  a  rock,  resting  on  her  cradle  of  wood. 


Plioto  by  Paul  Thnmpmn.  N.  Y. 

THE    DIVER   IS    CALLED    ON    WHEN    A    DOCK    IS    NOT 
HANDY 


36- 


TH  K  ^lARVEL  BOOK  OF  A:\IP]Ria\X  SHIPS 


Now  is  the 
time  to  study  a  big 
pea-fi,<>litcr,  a  blue 
ribbon  yacht,  or  a 
nianimoth  liner. 
The  lines  that  the 
sea  hides  jealously 
at  all  other  times 
are  now  stripped 
of  their  mystery. 
If  it  is  a  battleship 
you  can  tiace  tlie 
armor  belt  at  her 
w  a  t  e  r  1  i  n  e ;  if  a 
yacht  you  can  see 
the  graceful  taper 
of  stem  and  stern 
to  the  huge  fin  keel 
tliat  holds  her  up 
in  a  stiff  blow;  and 
if  an  ocean  liner 
the  huge  rudder 
and  the  propellers 
that  drive  her 
through  the  sea  are 
clear  to  your  view. 
First  the  hull 
is  carefully  cleaned 
and  oxaiiiincd  for 
traces  of  fouling, 
corrosion,  or  in- 
juries of  any  kind. 
The  rudder,  pro- 
pellers, and  valves 
go  through  the  same  search.  Giant  cranes  have  swimg  gangways  be- 
tween the  docks  and  the  dock's  sides,  and  the  decks  swarm  with  work- 
men and  the  air  is  vibrant  with  drills  and  hammers.  Side-cleaners  are 
swung  overside  and  the  underwater  body  is  given  coats  of  anti-cor- 
rosive and  anti-fouling  paint,  while  repairs  are  going  on. 

The  docking  period  finished,  the  water  is  again  admitted  through 
the  lower  part  of  the  caisson  until  it  is  once  more  level  with  the  water 


CLEANING  TIER  SIDES  AND  TROPELLERS 


WHERE  THE  SHIPS   NEST  363 

outside.  The  ship  floats  above  her  wooden  cradle,  and  when  the  caisson 
is  removed  slie  comes  out,  spick  and  span,  ready  to  try  her'  sea-heels 
once  more. 

All  our  navy-yards  are  equipped  with  docks,  some  large  enough 
to  handle  a  superdreadnought,  others  roomy  enough  only  for  a 
destroyer  or  a  sulimarine.  The  shipyards  have  their  docks  too,  or 
tlieir  marine  railways  (MI  which  smaller  craft  are  hauled  out  for  clean- 
ing and  repairs. 

But  dry  docks  are  hard  to  l)uild.  They  not  only  cost  a  great  deal 
of  money  but  at  times  the  soil  is  either  solid  rock  that  requires  blasting 
or  beneath  its  surface  is  threaded  with  quicksands  tiiat  defy  piling  and 
other  methods.  So  we  also  have  floating  docks  on  both  coasts  and  on 
the  Great  T^akes.  They  are  huge,  unwieldy  structures  of  wood  or  steel, 
and  can  be  towed  fiom  one  place  to  another.  Large  ballast-tanks  on 
the  sides  and  underneath  perform,  in  their  way,  what  the  caisson  and 
jjumps  of  the  dry  dock  do.  Secured  at  a  spot  where  there  is  deep 
water  the  floating  dock  is  sunk  bj-  admitting  water  into  the  ballast- 
tanks.  When  a  ship  enters  between  its  towering  Avails  and  is  well 
secured,  the  ballast  tanks  are  emptied  and  the  buoyancy  of  the  large 
tanks  raises  the  dock  and  its  burden. 

Tliere  are  times,  of  course,  when  a  ship,  although  her  bottom  is 
foul,  can  get  along  on  reduced  speed  by  burning  more  coal.  Often, 
however,  the  sea-injection  valves,  below  her  waterline,  Avith  strainers 
on  the  outside,  clog  up  with  barnacles.  Then  she  is  helpless,  for  she 
can  get  no  water  and  her  engines  cannot  run.  Divers,  who  are  carried 
on  all  ships  of  the  Navy,  are  then  sent  overside  in  diving-suits,  to  clear 
away  the  troublesome  barnacles. 

The  towing  of  the  floating  dry  dock  Dewey  from  its  shipyard  at 
Sparrow's  Point,  on  the  Chesapeake,  to  the  naval  station  at  Olongapo, 
sixty  miles  up  the  coast  of  Luzon  from  Manila  Bay,  has  gone  down  in 
the  feats  of  seamanship.  It  was  a  story  of  gales  and  mcmsoons,  of 
snapping  steel  hawsers,  of  snail-like  progress,  and  of  pluck  and  perse- 
verance which  Avon  over  a  remarkable  series  of  obstacles  that  more 
than  once  bade  fair  to  end  in  the'loss  of  the  Dewey  or  of  the  ships  that 
convoyed  and  towed  her  on  that  long  trip. 

At  one  time  the  succession  of  mishaps  had  become  so  dishearten- 
ing that  the  Chinese  crew  of  one  of  the  three  toAving  ships,  the  collier 
Caesar,  set  off  fireworks  and  tossed  OA'ci'board  colored  bits  of  paper  to 
put  to  rout  the  "devils"  that  Avere  opposing  the  Dewey.  The  Lascar 
crew  of  a  ship  in  the  Indian  Ocean  that  passed  the  strange  procession 


364 


MOXlTOll  AND  CRUISER  SHARE  THE  SAJIE  DOCK 


THE  "ILLI.XOIS"  IX  THE  XEW  ORLEANS  FLOATING  DOCK 
3G.J 


THE      XORTII  DAKOTA      IN  DRY  DOCK 


THE      OREGON      DOCKIXC 

3m 


WHERE  THE  SHIPS  NEST  367 

at  night,  brilliantly  lighted  to  warn  all  craft  of  the  danger  of  running 
athwart  the  tow,  was  so  terrified  tliat  it  resorted  to  prayers  to  strange 
gods  to  protect  them  from  the  weird  monster  of  the  deep  pursuing  the 
three  colliers. 

Befoio  the  Dewey  could  enter  the  Suez  CJanal  came  a  delay  of  a 
week  at  Port  Said  while  the  canal  authorities  deepened  the  sidings  cut 
foi'  her.  Passing  through  the  canal,  where  the  channel  twisted,  the 
huge  craft  sliced  off  great  stretches  of  sand  from  the  banks,  and  at 
night  caravans  wondered  at  the  odd  sight  that  the  stars  outlined. 

It  was  172  days  from  the  time  of  the  start  in  Chesapeake  Bay 
when  the  first  ship  of  the  convoy  forged  through  the  mountain-guarded 
entrance  to  Subig  Bay  and  rounded  Grande  Island  which  lies  just 
within.  When  the  Dewey  hove  in  sight,  with  a  new  American  ensigii 
hoisted,  the  warships  in  the  bay  greeted  her  with  the  fire  of  guns  and 
the  booming  of  whistles.  The  shores  were  lined  with  the  Tagalogs  of 
the  native  village,  and  the  seawall  of  the  naval  reservation  with  the 
])Iuejackets  and  the  mai'ine  battalion. 

There  she  rests  to-day,  doing  yeoman  service  for  the  Asiatic  Fleet, 
a  monument  to  American  seamanship  and  pluck  and  to  the  men  who 
built  her;  a  daily  reminder  to  the  Americans  at  that  lonely  naval  out- 
post of  the  name  that  humbled  Spain's  power  in  the  Far  East. 

In  time  of  war  the  dry  docks  and  the  floating  docks  are  invaluable. 
If  a  ship  should  have  her  hull  penetrated  by  a  torpedo  or  shell,  or 
damaged  by  collision,  she  would  first  flood  the  compartments  on  the 
other  side  to  keep  her  on  an  even  keel.  Collision  mats,  made  of  canvas 
with  one  side  shaggy  with  uncoiled  manila  or  hemp  roping,  would  be 
passed  under  her,  the  pressure  of  the  water  holding  them  over  the 
damaged  hull.  Then,  convoyed  by  other  ships,  with  destroyers  guard- 
ing her  against  underwater  attacks,  she  would  limp  back  to  the  nearest 
dock  for  repairs,  towed  or  under  her  own  steam. 


Copyrighl,  1S93.  htj  C.  Klnchncr 


THE  BATTLE  OF  LAKE  ERIE 


XXXI 


SEVEX   GREAT   SEA   FIGHTS 


THE  one  naval  action  that  stands  ont  in  the  War  of  the  American 
Kevolution  was  that  in  which  the  Bon  Homme  Bichard  foi'ced 
the  Scrapis  to  strike  her  colors  after  three  hours  of  as  deadly 
fighting  as  the  sea  has  ever  staged.  Commodore  John  Paul  Jones,  the 
hero  of  this  bi'illiant  fight  against  staggering  odds,  had  already  made 
his  name  famous  by  raids  in  the  Irish  Sea  and  on  the  coast  of  England. 
The  Bon  Homme  Bichard  was  the  flagship  of  his  makeshift  squad- 
ron which  sailed  from  Brest,  France.  She  was  a  converted  East 
India-man,  equipped  with  condemned  guns,  some  of  which  burst  at  the 
first  fire,  and  manned  with  a  crew  of  mixed  nationalities.  It  was  only 
the  genius  and  indomitalile  will  of  John  Paul  Jones  that  brought  this 
unwiekly  ship  her  victory  over  the  well-founded  British  cruiser.  Otf 
P^lamborough  Head,  on  September  l*."!,  1779,  his  squadron,  the  Bon 
Homme  Bichard,  Alliance,  Pallas,  Cerf,  and  Vengeance  sighted  two 
British  cruisers,  the  Serapis  and  the  Countess  of  Scarhoroiir/h,  con- 
voying forty  merchantmen.    It  was  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  when 

368 


SEVEN  GREAT  SEA  EIGHTS 


369 


the  Bon  Homme  Richard  came  within  pistol  range  of  the  Serapis,  and 
for  three  hours  and  a  half  the  fight  raged  between  them  in  the  moon- 
light. Jones'  ship  was  no  match  in  maneuvering,  so  he  closed,  lashing 
her  alongside  the  Serapis,  with  yards  entangled  and  their  guns  touch- 
ing each  other's  engaged  sides.  The  fire  of  the  Serapis  was  incessant 
and  both  ships  were  soon  set  on  fire. 


THE   ACTION    BETWEEN   THE       SERAPIS       AND    THE 

23,  1779 


BON    HOMME   RICHARD       SEPT. 


The  Alliance  appeared  when  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  :n  sore 
straits,  but  the  treacherous  Captain  Landais  fired  three  broadsides 
into  her  and  then  sheered  off.  With  his  ship  leaking  badly  from  the 
fire  of  the  two  ships,  half  of  his  crew  gone,  mutinous  prisoners  on 
deck,  and  but  three  of  his  gims  fit  to  fire,  Jones  was  hailed  by  the 
Serapis:  "Has  your  ship  struck?"  He  thundered  back:  •'!  have 
just  begun  to  fight ! ' ' 


370 


THK  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMKKMOAX  SHIPS 


A  well-directed  volley  of  grapeshot  crippled  the  mainmast  of  the 
Serapis,  and  the  French  marines  in  the  Bon  Hornnip  Riclmrd's  tops 
drove  the  crew  of  the  Serapis  from  her  upper  deck,  and  dropped 
hmul  gvoTindos  that  exploded  with  great  damage  below. 

.\  forlorn  canso 
had  ))i'cn  t  n  r  n  e  d 
into  victor  y  by 
. I  dues'  ins]iiring  ex- 
ample, and  the  Ser- 
(i/iis,  with  her  main- 
mast ready  to  go  by 
I  Ii  e  board,  struck 
her  colors.  Captain 
Pearson  was 
knighted  for  his  gal- 
lant resistance,  and 
w  hen  Jolm  Paul 
.Tones  heard  of  it  he 
said:  "If  I  meet 
hira  again  I'll  make 
a  Loixl  of  him." 

Early  in  the 
War  of  ISTJ  was 
fought  the  first  l)ig 
action  between  an 
American  and  Brit- 
ish frigate,  and  tlie 
victory  of  the  C())i- 
sfifiifidii  over  t  h  e 
(1  II  (■  r  r  i  c  r  e  still 
]•  a  n  k  s  with  t  h  e 
greatest  ever  w  o  n 
on  the  high  seas. 
Shi]i  for  ship  the 
advantage  was  slightly  with  tiie  Cuuslltiitinii,  but  the  losses  sulTered 
by  the  Guerriere  were  out  of  all  proportion  to  this  advantage.  Better 
gunnery  and  seamanship  had  carried  the  day  for  Old  Ironsides. 

Early  in  August,  1812,  the  Constitution  left  Boston,  and  a  Salem 
privateer  gave  her  word  of  a  lai-ge  British  cruiser  standing  to  the 
southward.  .Crowding  on  sail,  the  Constitution  overtook  the  Gnerriere 
on  the   afternoon   of  the   1!Hh.      By   superior  tactics  she   evaded   the 


Xnml  History  .Si 


JOHN  I'.\l'L  JONES 


Cuurtisy  uf  tin 


iili/ic  Amiiiraii:'  Cu,,iiri!lht   l,i/  Miinn  <(  Co.,  Inc. 

THE  ■•(■ONSTITITION  •  AND  THE  ■GtEHUIEUK- 


SEVEN  GREAT  SEA  FIGHTS 


371 


broadsides  of  the  Gueniere  and  raked  her  fore  and  aft  before  they 
closed.  A  shot  carried  away  the  Britisher's  mizzenmast,  and  Captain 
Isaac  Hull  shouted  to  his  men:  "Hurrah,  boys;  we've  made  a  brig  of 
her!" 

With  her  mizzenmast  trailing  over  her  quarter,  the  Gueniere 
was  raked  by  both  the  port  and  stai'board  guns  of  the  Constitution 
until  her  bowsprit  lay  over  the  Constitution's  stern  and  both  ships 
called  away  boarders.    In  the  heavy  sea  boarding  was  impossible,  and, 


■ 

B                       1 

^K^'S^^^Br^JnK^'SXSaSK^^  p^^-^ 

'r^^^^^-^r 

^^ 

THE  "COIMSTITUTION"  AND  THE  "(iUERRIEHE' 


yard-ai-m  to  yard-arm,  the  fight  went  on  for  two  hours.  The  deliberate 
fire  of  the  American  gunners  carried  away  the  fore  and  mainmasts  of 
the  Gueniere  and  her  main  deck  guns  rolled  in  the  water  on  the  star- 
board side  as  she  lay  a  dismantled  hulk.  Captain  Dacres  hauled  down 
his  flag  in  surrender,  liis  veteran  crew  outmatched  by  the  green  men 
who  made  up  Captain  Hull's  force.  The  war  was  but  a  few  months 
old  and  the  victory  made  the  fifth  in  which,  in  single  ship  actions,  the 
British  ship  had  been  captured. 

The  Battle  of  Lake  Erie,  fought  between  two  well-matched  squad- 
rons, shed  luster  on  both.  Perry's  great  victory  does  not  rank  high 
in  the  opinion  of  naval  experts  for  the  strategy  shown,  but  it  was 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


featured  by  the  heroic  defense  of  the  Lawrence  and  the  Detroit.  It 
had  a  far-reaching  moral  effect  and  proved  the  turning-point  in  the 
military  campaign  on  the  Canadian  border.  Unstinted  credit,  too,  is 
given  Perry  for  the  building  of  the  greater  part  of  his  fresh-water 
squadron,  under  great  handicaps,  in  five  months. 

The  two  fleets  met  at  daylight  on  Sei)tembei-  10,  1813,  and  the 
British  concentrated  fire  on  Perry's  flagsliip,  named  the  Lawrence, 
in  honor  of  Captain  Lawrence,  killed  in  the  fight  between  the  Chesa- 
l>ea]ic  and  the  SIkuii/dil    AVitli  his  rigging  shot  awaj^  his  hull  pierced 

many  times  below 
the  waterline  and 
his  guns  dismount- 
ed one  after  an- 
other. Perry,  with 
the  aid  of  the  pur- 
ser and  the  cliap- 
lain.  fired  the  last 
gun  himself.  Over- 
head flew  a  b  1  u  e 
flag  inscribed  in 
white  with  the  last 
words  of  the  dying 
Lawrence:  "Don't 
give  up  the  ship!" 
This  flag  Perry 
shifted  to  the 
Niof/ara. 

The  other  American  shii)S,  which  had  fought  at  long  range,  now 
closed  in  and  the  British  suffered  heavily.  Perry  turned  the  tide  in 
thrilling  manner  by  breaking  the  British  line  with  the  Xiaf/ara,  raking 
it  with  broadsides  from  his  port  and  starboard  batteries.  Two  fell 
foul  of  each  other,  and  tlie  Niagara,  luffing  athwart  tlieir  bows,  raked 
both  with  guns  and  musketry  fire.  It  was  only  after  four  hours  of 
sanguinary  fighting  that  Captain  Barclay  of  the  Detroit,  a  \eteian 
of  Trafalgar,  surrendered  to  Captain  Oliver  Hazard  Perry,  then  l)nt  l.'7 
years  old.  On  every  ship  the  fii'st  or  second  in  command  had  been 
killed  or  wounded. 

Perry's  message  ek'ctrified  tlie  American  people  with  its  terse 
statement:  "We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  ai-e  ours;  two  ships, 
two  brigs,  one  schooner,  and  one  sloop." 

The  era  of  steam  robbed  sea  fights  of  much  nf  tlieii'  romance. 


■at  Hisloru  fSorielii 

THE  FRIGATE  "cOX.STITUTIOX  ' 


373 


374 


THK  .\rARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


Advance  in  gninnery  ended  the  i)istol-range  duels  of  the  ohl  days, 
and  steam  made  the  handling  of  a  waishij)  a  mechanical  matter.  But 
the  sea  fights  of  the  Civil  "War  were  waged  between  wooden  ships 
until  the  duel  between  the  Moiiitar  and  the  Merrimac  ushered  in  the 
ironclads. 

Early  in  the  second  year  of  the  war  the  Confederates  built  a 
powerful  i-am  out  of  the  old  frigate  M('ni)iiac,  which  had  been  jiaitly 
burned  and  sunk  at  Norfolk.  Foi'e  and  aft  she  had  been  cut  away, 
and  amidships  a  casemate  had  been  erected  with  its  sk)ping  walls 
armored,  over  heavy  timber,  with  two  layers  of  iron  plates.  These 
plates  projected  over  her  hull  to  jirotect  the  waterline,  and  the  hull 
also  had  been  plated.  On  her  bow,  two  feet  below  water,  a  heavy  cast- 
iron  ram  had  been  bolted,  and  she  was  armed  with  heavy  rifled  guns. 

The  Union  fleet  of  wooden  ships,  both  sail  and  steam,  was  lying 
at  Hampton  Roads  when  the  Merrimac  made  its  first  appearance  on 
March  2,  1862.  The  broadsides  of  the  Congress  and  the  Cumberland 
rattled  harmlessly  off  her  iron  sides,  and  before  she  withdrew  later  in 
the  day  the  Cumberland  had  fallen  victim  to  her  powerful  ram  and 
gone  down  with  her  flag  flying;  and  she  had  wrecked  the  Congress,  pi'o- 
tected  bv  shoal  water  from  tlie  ram,  with  her  heavy  fii-e.     Tli(>  Miinie- 


AN  .\UGUST  MOHNIXC  WITH   KAHKAIUT 


SEN'EN  GREAT  SEA  FIGHTS 


375 


suta,  the  most  powerful  sliii)  remaining,  had  been  saved  by  steaming 
into  shallow  water,  but  her  destruction  the  next  day  seemed  inevitable. 

When  the  big  ram  steamed  back  the  next  morning  to  finish  the 
fleet  she  made  straight  for  the  Minnesota.  Out  from  behind  its  screen 
steamed  a  strange  craft  that  had  been  hurried  down  from  New  York 
in  a  gale.  "A  cheesebox  on  a  raft"  she  had  been  dubbed,  for  Erics- 
son's Monitor  was  a  jest  among  seafaring  men  until  she  proved  her 
worth  that  memorable  day.  Her  decks  were  but  a  foot  above  the  water- 
line,  and  from  her  center  rose  a  movable  turret  nine  feet  high,  and  cov- 
ered with  iron  plates.  Two  11-inch  gams  firing  solid  shot  were  mounted 
in  the  turret,  and  when  she  went  into  battle  her  smoke-stacks  were 
taken  apart  and  laid  on  the  deck.  She  was  one-fifth  the  size  of  the 
Merrimac,  but  boldly  barred  her  path. 

The  ram's  rifled  guns  made  no  impression  on  the  round  turret, 
but  when  the  Monitor  opened  fire  she  started  the  plates  of  the  Mer- 
rimac. With  this  advantage  of  her  guns,  and  her  ability  to  dodge  the 
Merrimac' s  ram,  the  odds  were  too  much  for  the  latter.  She  with- 
drew, badly  damaged,  and  the  little  Monitor  kejat  guard  over  the  fleet. 
The  Merrimac  was  blown  up  later  by  her  own  men  to  save  her  from 
capture  by  the  advancing  Union  Army. 


THE      KEARSARGE      AND  THE      ALABAMA 


;i7(i 


THK  MAKVEL  BOOK  OF  A.MERICAN  SHIPS 


ADMIRAL  GEORGE  DEWEY's  FLAGSHIP  THE  "OLYMPIa" 


Greatest  of  all 
the  engagements 
of  the  Civil  AVar 
and  ranking  as  our 
greatest  sea  fight, 
was  the  Battle  of 
Mobile  Bay.  From 
it  Admiral  David 
Farragut  emerged 
second  only  to  Nel- 
son. In  the  "War 
of  1812  lie  li  ad 
fought  as  a  mid- 
shipman on  the 
Essex  and  his  ca- 
reer showed  the 
inborn  genius  and 
bravery  of  a  great 
sea  captain. 

The  only  port  left  open  to  the  Confederates  in  AugTist,  1864,  was 
Mobile.  Forts  IMorgan  and  Gaines  commanded  the  narrow  entrance 
to  Mobile  Bay.  Behind  the  channel  mined  with  torpedoes  lay  a  Con- 
federate squadron  when  Farragut  attacked  on  the  misty  morning  of 
the  5th.  With  fourteen  wooden  sliijis,  one  of  which  was  his  flagship, 
the  Hait/unl,  and  four  monitors,  Farragut  made  for  the  entrance. 
His  seven  strongest  wooden  ships  were  on  the  right  and  to  each 
was  lashed  on  the  left  a  smaller  one.  Between  this  double  column 
and  Fort  ^lorgan,  the  more  powerful  of  the  forts,  steamed  the  moni- 
tors. 

Close  to  Fort  Morgan  they  steamed,  heavy  liroadsides  answering 
the  terrific  fire  of  the  forts.  The  Confederate  ram  Tennessee,  one  of 
the  most  formidable  ironclads  afloat,  and  the  rest  of  the  Confederate 
ships  opened  fire  on  the  advancing  fleet,  and  heavy  losses  were  reg- 
istered eai'ly.  The  forts  were  powerless  to  stop  the  fleet  in  the  nar- 
row channel,  and  fortune  favored  Farragut  until  his  leading  ship, 
the  monitor  Tecumseh,  struck  a  torpedo  and  sank  almost  instantly. 
The  steamer  Brooklyn,  backing  to  avoid  another  torpedo,  halted  the 
colunm  under  the  fire  of  the  forts.  Farragut,  heedless  of  the  torpedo- 
sown  channel,  went  full-speed-ahead,  cleared  the  llrookJi/)! :  and  the  col- 
umn, following  his  lead,  gained  the  bay. 

.Here  the  smaller  ships  were  cast  off  to  engage  the  Confederate 


SEVEN  GREAT  SEA  FIGHTS  377 

gunboats.  The  Tennessee  rusliod  in  sinnlo-liandcd.  One  after  tlio 
other,  FarragTit's  wooden  ships  rannned  her,  and  when  the  slow  moni- 
tors came  up  their  guns  reduced  her  to  impotence.  In  the  three-hour 
fight  that  ended  with  the  sun-ender  of  the  Tennessee  the  great  admiral 
had  lost  335  killed  and  wounded  and  the  monitor  Tecumseh  had  been 
sunk,  but  his  ships  had  silenced  the  foits,  defeated  the  Confederate 
si|uadron  and  sealed  to  outer  communication  with  the  sea  the  last  port 
of  the  Confederacy. 

It  was  three  days  after  war  was  declared  against  Spain  that 
President  McKinley  cabled  to  Commodore  George  Dewey  to  capture 
or  destroy  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  Philippines.  Dewey  was  at  Hong 
Kong,  China,  with  the  Asiatic  Squadron  comprising  the  flagship  Olym- 
pia,  the  Baltimore,  Boston,  Raleigh,  Concord,  Petrel,  and  the  revenue 
cutter  McCiiUoch.  Under  cover  of  night  he  steamed  past  the  Spanish 
batteries  on  Corregidor  Island,  and  into  Manila  Bay,  on  ]\Iay  1,  1898. 
At  daybreak  the  Spanish  fleet  was  sighted  lying  off  the  navy-yard  and 
arsenal  at  Cavite.  Admiral  ]\Iontojo  was  on  the  Reina  Christina  with 
eight  other  shijis  under  his  command. 

At  the  speed  of  eight  knots  the  American  fleet  moved  to  the  at- 


farragut's  flagship  the 


HARTFORD      WITH  DEWEY  S  FLAGSHIP   THE      OLYMPIA 
IN  THE  BACKGROUND 


378 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  A:\1ERICAN  SHIPS 


tack,  led  by  the  Olympia.  Tlie  heat  was  intense  and  the  gun  crews 
were  stripi)ed  to  the  waist.  Two  mines  exi)k)ded  ahead  of  the  Olym- 
pia without  damage  to  her  before  Commodore  Dewey  turned  to  Cap- 
tain Gridley  with  his  memorable  order:  "You  may  tire  when  ready, 
Gridley." 

^\n  eight-inch  gim  in  the  forward  turret  tired  the  first  shot  at  the 
range  of  5,500  yards  in  the  battle  that  was  destined  to  make  the  Tnited 
States  a  world-power  witii  possessions  in  the  West  Indies  and  tlie 
Far  East.    A  shell  struck  the  water  almost  at  the  Oh/iupUrs  bow,  one 

fragment  cutting 
the  rigging  above 
the  forward  bridge 
and  another  tear- 
ing a  hole  in  the 
deck.  Dewey  an- 
swered with  a  port 
broadside  and  ran 
four  times  down 
the  Spanish  line 
with  his  s  h  i  ])  s 
]i  o  u  n  d  i  n  g  t  h  e 
Spanish  cruisers 
and  gunboats.  On 
the  fifth  turn  he 
h  a  d  closed  in  to 
2,000  yards,  and 
even  the  light  guns 
of  the  fleet  were  working  havoc  on  tlie  decks  of  the  enemy.  Three  had 
burst  into  flames  under  the  accurate  fire. 

Then  came  a  halt  for  breakfast  and  a  count  of  ammunition,  l)e- 
yond  the  range  of  the  Spanish  guns,  and  it  was  a  quarter  to  eleven 
when  the  battle  was  renewed,  with  the  Baltimore  leading.  In  two 
hours  the  Spanish  fleet  was  destroyed.  All  had  been  either  sunk  or 
burned  to  the  water's  edge  by  gunfire  and  by  boats'  crews.  Tlie  flag 
of  Spain  on  the  Cavite  arsenal  had  been  rejdaced  by  a  white  flag,  and 
Manila  lay  under  the  guns  of  our  victorious  fleet.  Eight  of  our  men 
had  been  wounded,  none  killed,  and  the  ships  bore  little  more  than 
scars.  In  the  Spanish  fleet  nearly  200  had  been  killed  and  almost  '300 
wounded. 

Congress  voted  Dewey  a  sword  of  honor  and  restored  for  him 
tlie  rank  of  Admiral  of  the  Navy,  an  lionor  that  only  Farragut  and 


THE    LrrTLE       GH)L  »_  t,-!.l  tK       E.\(iA(.KD    THE    SPANISH    TOR- 
PEDO BOATS  AT  CLOSE  RANGE 


SEVEN  GREAT  SEA  FIGHTS 


379 


Porter  had  shared.  His  return  to  the  United  States  by  way  of  the 
Suez  and  the  Mediterranean  was  the  occasion  for  honors  that  cul- 
minated with  a  great  celebration  in  New  York  on  Dewey  Day.  On 
his  death  at  Washington,  January  16,  1916,  the  nation  united  in  the 
last  honors  to  the  great  sea  captain  who  will  always  live  in  its  mem- 
ory with  Farragnat  and  Porter. 

The  fight  oft'  Santiago,  Cuba,  on  July  3,  1898,  ranks  as  the  great- 
est sea  fight  in  American  history  in  the  power  of  the  squadrons  that 
were  engaged.     Cervera's  squadron  bad  been  "bottled  up"  in  San- 


IT   WAS   CAPTAIN    PHILIP    OF    THE    "tEXAS"    WHO    SAID:    "dON't   CHEER,    THE    POOR 
DEVILS  ARE  DYING" 

tiago  by  the  North  Atlantic  S(iuadro]i  under  conniiand  of  Rear- 
Admiral  William  T.  Sampson.  On  the  morning  of  the  od  it  dashed 
out  of  the  narrow  entrance  and  in  the  running  fight  that  followed 
evei-y  ship  in  the  luckless  squadron  was  either  captured  oi'  sunk. 

As  the  Sjjanish,  led  by  Admiral  Cervei-a  on  the  flagsliii)  Infanta 
Maria  Teresa,  came  out  they  turned  to  the  right  and  Hed  down  the 
coast  at  full  speed.  The  American  fleet  was  i>repared  and  their  fire 
caught  the  leading  ship  and  she  made  for  the  beach  a  mass  of  flames. 


;5S{)  TIIH  MAHN'KI.  I!()()K  OF  A^[^:RICAN  SHIPS 

Xoxt  the  Oqucndo,  riddled  by  shell-firo,  was  beached  to  save  her  crew. 
The  Vizcaya,  also  afire,  went  on  the  reef  fifteen  miles  west  of  Santiago, 
and  her  forward  magazine  exploded.  Meanwhile  the  Gloucester,  a 
converted  yacht  and  lacking  armor,  had  engaged  the  destroyers  Pin- 
ion and  Furor  close  inshoi'e.  Lieutenant  Commander  Richard  Wain- 
wright,  though  outmatched  by  either,  stood  direct  for  them.  The 
accurate  and  rapid  fire  of  his  light  guns  destroyed  first  the  Pluton  and 
then  the  Furor,  while  the  little  Gloucester  escaped  unscathed. 

Now  came  the  most  thrilling  moments  of  the  fight,  for  the  Colon 
was  in  full  flight  with  the  Oreffon,  BrooMiin,  Texas,  and  New  York 
in  pursuit.  At  the  end  of  a  three-hour  chase  tlie  Orefjon  was  the  first 
to  get  her  range,  and  the  roar  of  a  13-inch  shell  that  barely  passed 
over  her  made  her  strike  her  colors  in  surrender. 

On  the  BrooMyn  we  had  lost  one  killed  and  one  wounded,  while 
the  losses  in  the  Spanish  fleet  were  more  than  250  killed  and  dro\\Tied, 
150  wounded,  and  more  than  1,800  prisoners.  The  Oregon  was  the 
hero  of  the  fight,  for  after  having  rushed  15,000  miles  around  the 
Horn,  passing  through  the  Straits  of  ^lagellan  in  a  gale,  she  had  out- 
raced  the  rest  of  the  fleet  in  the  chase  of  the  Colon.  To-day  her  full 
broadside  would  be  drowned  in  the  roar  of  the  Penusylvama's  twelve 
14-inch  guns,  and  the  Pennsylvania,  single-handed,  could  beat  a  fleet 
of  the   old  Oregons. 

The  Santiago  Battle  ended  Spain's  resistance  on  sea;  and  with 
the  menace  of  its  fleet  gone  the  combined  military  and  naval  opera- 
tions resulted  in  the  speedy  end  of  the  war. 


Photo  by  Paul  Thompson,  N.  Y. 

THE  S.  S.  "titanic"  LEAVING  SOUTHAMPTON  ON  HER  MAIDEN  VOYAGE 


XXXII 


TRAGEDIES    OF    THE    SEA 


THE  sea  takes  heavy  toll  with  its  countless  shipwrecks.  Hurri- 
canes, typhoons,  mountainous  icebergs,  treacherous  shoals,  tidal 
waves  and  the  gales  of  midwinter  all  contribute  to  their  shai'e 
of  marine  disasters.  In  foggy  or  misty  weather  comes  the  added 
danger  of  collisions.  Only  a  few  of  the  most  famous  disasters  that  have 
befallen  American  ships  and  passengers  need  be  told  to  illustrate  the 
dangers  that  lurk  at  sea. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  accidents  that  ever  befell  any  ship, 
but  which,  happily,  entailed  but  little  loss  of  life,  wrecked  the  U.S.S. 
Mononf/ahela  in  West  Indian  waters.  She  was  at  anchor  in  the  road- 
stead of  Fredericksted,  then  the  port  of  the  Danish  island  of  St.  Croix, 
on  Xovember  18,  1867,  when  suddenly  she  began  to  (|uiver  from  stem 

m 


382 


TJ1I-;  MARVEL  !'>()(  )K  OF  AMEKICAX  SHIPS 


to  stern.  The  sea  was  calm  but  immediately  the  water  began  to  recede 
from  shore.  It  came  back  with  such  a  strong  current  that  the  Monon- 
f/aJicla's  chain  cal)le  was  torn  adrift  and  ran  out  through  the  hawse- 
pipe.  Another  anchor  was  let  go,  and  an  effort  made  to  pay  her  head 
offshore  to  take  advantage  of  the  checking  of  the  current  and  a  light 
offshore  breeze. 

She  was  making  headway  into  deeper  water  when  a  great  tidal 
wave,  twenty-five  feet  high,  rushed  in  fi-om  the  sea.  It  carried  tlie 
ship  bodily  over  the  warehouses  on  the  shore  and  landed  her  on  her 
keel  in  the  street  fronting  the  water.  By  an  odd  chance  she  lay  di- 
rectly in  front  of  the  store  in  which  Alexander  Hamilton  had  once 
worked  as  a  clerk.  On  the  retui'n  of  the  tidal  wave  the  Monongahela 
was  once  more  thrown  back  toward  the  beach.  AVhen  the  wall  of  water 
had  receded,  and  the  sea  was  again  calm,  the  stranded  vessel  lay 
keeled  over  at  an  angle  of  fifteen  degrees  on  a  coral  reef.  In  this 
precarious  i)osition  the  MonutifinlieJa  appeared  to  be  doomed. 

Three  men  who  were  in  boats  tied  up  at  the  boom  were  lost,  but 


THE  "vANDALIa"  WAS  A  VICTIM  OF  THE  SAMOAN  HURRICANE 


384 


THE  jMARVEL  book  of  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


those  on  board  escaped  without  injury.  Commodore  S.  B.  Bissell, 
who  was  in  command,  began  repairs  to  his  ship  and  from  tlio  United 
States,  under  whose  control  St.  Croix  and  the  other  islands  of  the 
Danish  AVest  Indies  passed  eai'ly  in  1917,  eight  anchors  and  a  thousand 
fathoms  of  chain  cable  were  supplied.  Launching  ways  were  built  and 
with  the  anchors  and  cable  the  Monongahela  was  hauled  into  deep 
water.  Twenty-five  days  from  the  dramatic  appearance  of  the  tidal 
wave  she  was  afloat,  and  soon  after  left  for  New  York  under  her 
own  power. 

One  of  the  most  tragic  disasters  ever  enacted  at  sea  was  that  of 
the  Samoan  hurricane  of  Mai-ch  16,  1889.  At  the  time  there  was  fric- 
tion between  the  United  States  and  Germany  over  Samoan  matters. 
In  the  unprotected  anchorage  of  Apia  lay  the  United  States  ships 
Trenton,  Vandalia,  and  Nipsic,  the  German  Eber  and  Adler,  and  the 
British  Calliope.  After  a  day  of  heavy  seas  combed  by  a  northerly 
gale  the  hurricane  broke  in  full  force  over  Apia  soon  after  midnight 
of  the  16th.  As  the  hurricane  swelled  to  its  height  the  danger  of 
collision  in   the  crowded   anchorage,  and  the  ])roximity   of  the  coi-al 


THE  CUUISER 


HE  ROCKS  IN  SANTO  DOMINGO  BY  TIDAL  WAV8 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  SEA  385 

reefs  that  guarded  its  entrance,  added  to  the  dangers  of  the  terrify- 
ing wind  and  the  seas  that  broke  over  the  decks. 

The  Trenton's  chain  cables  parted  on  three  of  her  anchors,  one 
by  one.  Her  wheel  w^as  wrecked,  and  water  in  her  hold  gained  on 
the  pumps.  Hand  pumps  were  manned  to  save  the  fires  from  the 
water,  and  then,  through  the  sheets  of  flying  water  that  obscured  the 
anchorage,  the  crew  of  the  Trenton  saw  the  British  steam  frigate 
Calliope  standing  out  to  sea.  She  passed  so  close  that  her  foreyard 
lay  over  the  Trenton's  deck,  clearing  her  by  inches.  As  her  powerful 
engines  fought  against  the  hurricane  Rear-Admiral  L.  A.  Kiniberly 
of  the  Trento)i  called  for  three  hearty  cheers.  They  came  with  a  will, 
"the  doomed  saluting  the  saved,"  and  the  Trenton's  band  struck  up 
"God  Save  the  Queen"  as  the  Calliope,  fighting  inch  by  inch  for  the 
open  sea,  forged  ahead. 

When  the  Calliope  passed  her  the  Trenton's  fires  had  gone  out, 
and  she  lay  helpless,  her  doom  apparently  a  question  of  hours.  Every 
man  on  board  knew  it,  yet  in  the  face  of  death  they  gave  their  tribute 
to  the  magnificent  effort  of  the  British  ship.  Captain  Kane  of  the 
Calliope  afterward  said:  "Every  man  on  board  the  Calliope  felt  as 
I  did;  it  made  us  work  to  win.  I  can  only  say,  'God  bless  America 
and  her  noble  sailors ! '  " 

All  day  the  Trenton  dragged,  barely  missing  reefs  that  would 
have  torn  her  sides  open,  until  she  struck  bottom.  Here  she  brought 
up  alongside  the  wrecked  Vandalia,  whose  masts  were  all  that  showed 
above  water.  Lines  were  shot  across  and  the  crew  and  officers  in  the 
Vandalia' s  rigging  and  tops  were  saved  by  superhuman  efforts.  The 
^spot  that  marked  the  Vandalia' s  death  soon  claimed  the  Trenton. 
The  Nipsic  went  hard  aground  but  was  afterward  salvaged.  Through 
the  surf  sailors  and  natives  formed  human  chains  and  saved  many 
who  had  been  washed  overboard  as  the  American  and  Gei'man  ships 
pounded  to  pieces. 

The  little  Eber  had  gone  down  almost  instantly  after  the  hurri- 
cane broke.  The  Adler  had  been  lifted  by  a  giant  wave  over  the  edge 
of  the  reef  and  toppled  over  on  its  deck  well  inshore,  with  part  of 
the  keel  torn  off. 

The  Nipsic  suffered  our  heaviest  loss,  with  forty-three  men  and 
four  officers,  including  her  captain;  but  none  escaped  unscathed.  The 
sea  exacted  its  toll  from  all  but  the  Calliope.  Waves  tore  men  out  of 
the  rigging  and  dashed  them  onto  the  decks.  Others  were  swept  from 
the  decks,  and  many  drowned  before  the  men  battling  in  the  surf 
could  reach  them. 


386 


THE  MARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


The  sinking  of  the  second-class  battleship  Maine  in  the  harbor 
of  Havana  in  1898  was  without  parallel  in  its  staging  and  its  results. 
It  made  war  between  the  United  States  and  Spain  inevitable.  The 
rallying  cry  of  that  war  on  land  and  sea  was,  "Remember  the  Maine!" 
To-day  the  exact  truth  of  the  blowing  up  of  the  Maine  is  still  wrapped 
in  mystery,  but  the  finding  of  the  Naval  Court  of  Inquiry,  held  at 
Key  West,  announced  to  the  world  that  "In  the  ojjinion  of  the  Court 
the  Maine  was  destroyed  by  the  explosion  of  a  submarine  mine,  which 
caused  the  partial  explosion  of  two  or  more  of  her  forward  maga- 
zines."   This  opinion  is  generally  held. 

Conditions  in  Havana  were  much  disturbed  early  in  1898,  and 
the  Maine  steamed  into  the  harbor,  past  Morro  Castle  and  Cabanas 
fortress,  on  January  25th.  Consul  General  Fitzhugh  Lee  had  reported 
that  Americans  were  in  danger  of  mobs  and  without  a  place  of  refuge. 
She  was  taken  to  a  mooring  buoy  dii'ectly  off  the  center  of  the  city 
by  a  Government  pilot ;  and  then  followed  the  usual  visits  of  courtesy 
between  Captain  Charles  D.  Sigsbee  and  the  Governor-General  of 
Cuba,  and  lesser  officials. 

It  was  evident  that  the  presence  of  the  Maine  was  not  popular, 
but   there  were   no  untoward   incidents   until   the  night  of  February 


RAISING  THE      MAINE 


388 


THE  ^[ARVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


15th.  It  was  exactly  9:40  o'clock  when  the  shock  of  an  explosion  lifted 
her  bow  out  of  water.  There  followed  a  second  shock,  and  then  a 
tremendous  explosion  forward  blew  up  her  decks  and  the  Maine  settled 
in  the  water.  Private  Anthony,  the  Captain's  marine  orderly,  imme- 
diately searched  in  the  darkness  for  Captain  Sigsbee  and,  when  he 
found  him,  following  the  formula  of  the  sea  that  everything  must  be 
reported,  saluted  and  said:  "Sir,  the  ship  has  blown  up  and  is  sink- 


Fire  broke  out  and  the  uninjured  boats  were  lowered  and  the  ship 
abandoned  after  a  thorough  search  for  wounded  men.  The  Spanish 
warship  Alfonso  XII  and  the  American  merchantman  City  of  Wash- 
ington took  aboard  the  survivors.  Divers  were  sent  to  Havana  by 
the  Navy  Department  and  their  report  was  made  known  to  the  Court 
of  Inquiry  at  Key  West.  The  total  loss  of  officers  and  men  on  the 
Maine  was  267,  and  the  nation  was  plunged  into  mourning.  Sixty- 
four  days  later  war  was  declared  by  Congress. 

The  Maine  was  afterward  raised  by  action  of  Congress,  her  sJiat- 
tered  hull  patched  up,  and  she  was  then  towed  to  sea  and  sunk  with 
her  flag  flying.  Her  dead  were  buried  at  the  Arlington  National 
Cemotcrv  with  fitting  ceremonies. 


rWKILIXd    THE      .MAI.NIO      M  U  \  L' M  E  N  T 


teaCtEDIp]s  of  the  sea 


389 


When  tlie  Wlaite  Star  liner  Titanic  sailed  from  Southampton, 
Enoland,  for  New  York  on  April  10,  1912,  on  her  maiden  trip,  she 
was  the  largest  steamship  in  the  world.  Her  cabins  were  hlled  with 
men  and  women  of  distinction,  and  Americans  were  prominent  among 
them  She  was  considered  to  be  the  last  word  in  ocean  liners,  and 
unsinkable  with  her  fifteen  watertight  bulkheads  and  a  watertight 
inner  bottom.  With  a  displacement  of  46,000  tons,  length  of  88o  feet 
beam  of  92  feet,  and  triple  screws,  she  held  within  her  steel  hull  all 
that  science,  lux- 
ury, and  p  0  w  e  r 
could  combine  in  a 
single  ship.  Five 
days  later  she  was 
at  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean.  Out  of 
her  complement  of 
2201  passengers 
and  crew  only  711 
were  saved. 

It  was  night 
when    the    Titanic, 
running  at  the 
speed  of  twenty 
knots,    struck    a 
giant    iceberg. 
There  was  a  sud- 
den  shock,  but   at 
the   time  the  pas- 
sengers didnot  .  ,,      a  A 
dream  that  a  berg  had  been  struck.    Small  bits  of  ice  on  the  forward 
deck  were  the  only  outward  sign  at  first.    The  band  began  playing,  and 
meanwhile  tons  of  icv  water  were  pouring  into  the  holds.    The  ice  was 
far  south  of  its  usual  haunts,  but  the  air  had  been  unusually  cold  and 
the  steamers  Caronia  and  Baltic  had  that  morning  wirelessed  warnings 
of  icebergs.     Secure  in  the  belief  of  her  invincibihty,  however,  the 
Titanic' s  course  had  not  been  altered  and  she  had  steamed  to  her  rum. 
Her  wireless  operator  sent  the  call  of  S.  O.  S.  throbbing  into  the 
black  night.     She  settled  slowly  by  the  head,  listing  to  port,  but  when 
it  was  seen  that  her  end  was  sure  there  was  no  panic  on  board.    Ofli- 
cers  armed  with  revolvers  took  stations  at  the  boat  falls  and  the  women 
and  children  were  hurried  off.     There  were  not  enough  boats  to  take 


DIVERS  LOCATING  THE  ¥-i 


390 


THE  MAEVEL  BOOK  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPS 


all  the  passengers.  An  attempted  rush  for  the  boats  by  a  few  steerage 
passengers  was  stopped  by  a  few  warning  shots.  When  the  last  boat 
left  there  were  fifteen  hundred  on  the  Titanic' s  slanting  decks.  She 
sank  by  the  head,  slowly  at  first,  then  dived  almost  vertically.  Lighted 
as  brilliantly  as  the  night  she  left  England,  the  Titanic  went  down  in 
that  last  plunge,  and  from  her  decks  men  and  women  slid  down  into 
the  vortex.  Her  boilers  burst  as  she  sank  and  nothing  was  left  to 
mark  where  the  pride  of  the  seas  had  been  but  drifting  wreckage  and 


THE  F-4  WHICH  WAS  LOST  OFF  HONOLULU 


small  boats  in  which  women  took  their  places  at  the  oars  to  keep  from 
freezing.  The  Carpathia  and  Olympic  had  been  the  first  to  answer 
her  wireless  and,  boatload  by  boatload,  picked  up  the  survivors  and 
then  steamed  to  the  westward  with  the  tragic  news. 

The  loss  of  the  submarine  F-4  off  Honolulu  is  a  typical  tale  of 
the  dangers  that  submarines  run  even  in  the  carrying  out  of  routine 
maneuveis.  Ti'apped  in  the  hull  of  a  sunken  submarine  death  comes 
as  the  only  relief  while  the  outside  world  counts  the  days  until  hope 
is  abandoned.  Following  the  raising  of  the  ill-fated  craft  to  the  sur- 
face with  its  crew  of  dead  men,  naval  experts  generally  derive  some 


TRAGEDIES  OF  THE  SEA  391 

new  lesson  in  the  building  of  undersea  craft  that  will  make  them  more 
safe. 

The  F-4  stood  out  of  Honolulu  Harbor  with  the  F-1  and  the  F-3 
for  a  submerged  run  on  the  morning  of  March  25,  1915.  She  sub- 
merged off  Diamond  Head  and  never  came  to  the  surface  until  the 
salvage  crew  raised  her  more  than  five  months  later.  Wlien  the 
other  two  submarines  returned  within  an  hour  the  non-appearance  of 
the  F-4  caused  alarm.  It  was  noon  when  a  motorboat  sighted  air 
bubbles  and  the  slick  of  oil  on  the  surface  a  mile  from  the  channel 
entrance  in  water  two  hundred  fathoms  deep.  Other  bubbles  showed 
closer  inshore  where  the  water  shoaled  rapidly.  Divers  wore  sent 
down  to  a  depth  of  300  feet  in  diving-suits  after  two  expert  divers 
without  suits,  but  wearing  divers'  helmets,  had  gone  down  to  a  depth 
ranging  from  190  to  215  feet. 

It  was  seen  that  the  only  chance  of  rescue  lay  in  dragging  the 
F-4  into  shallow  water  where  the  rescue  work  could  be  better  carried 
on.  Dragging  failed  and  then  the  salvagers  passed  chains  under  her 
and  she  was  lifted  and  towed  into  shallow  water.  It  took  three  days  to 
place  the  chains  because  of  the  swells  and  heavy  undertow.  By  this 
time  all  hope  of  saving  the  lives  of  the  F-4's  crew  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. Only  after  months  of  preparation,  delayed  by  broken  haws- 
ers, snapped  chains  and  storms  was  the  submarine  finally  brought  to 
the  surface.  She  was  so  badly  damaged  that,  while  the  bodies  were 
rescued,  the  cause  of  the  accident  that  held  her  on  the  bottom  of  the 
harbor  for  five  months  will  never  be  clearly  known. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
^^7-1''(      -  BERKELEY  t  '^ '^'T 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


UFebSWB 

MAY    71955.LU 

R£C  D  Lp 

0CT28'64-1U 


REC'D  LD 

SEP16'65-2PH 

MAR  2  7  1966  1  6 


JUL  28  1988 

VZ7 


i>M 


% 


LD  21-100m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)47 


AUG  24  1989 


(JCT  011989 

ij'ilj  Disc  OCT  2  0  1989 


YD   \5(-22 


IvISOMSl 


'v^  ^j.,' 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CD0S3=mbn 


